Plastic Scrap Refining & Tolling Services

There’s Nothing We Can’t Do with Your Scrap

Since 1983 we have been we have been turning scrap into usable plastic. Throughout this time we have grown and stayed on the cutting edge of plastic recycling. Below you will find the multitude of services we can provide for you and your scrap.

*At this time we only accept materials by the truckload for these services

butler-macdonald-plastics-accepted

Plastic Scrap Services & Sales

Polymer Separation

We can separate plastics from pellets, parts or regrind that have been accidentally mixed together, including plastics of different polymers.

Polymer Separation Case Studies
Color Separation

We can separate plastics of different colors (from batch blends, silos, containers, bulk transport and manufacturing processes) and deliver usable polymers back to you.

Color Separation Case Studies
Metal Separation

When rejects or scrap contain a combination of metal and plastics we can perform separation procedures that achieve high levels of purity allowing for maximum recycling or reprocessing value.

Metal Separation Case Studies
Contaminant Removal

We can separate contaminants (dirt, wood, gravel, metal, paper, etc.) from plastic pellets, parts or regrind that are of different polymers and/or colors.

Contaminant Removal Case Studies
Whole Part and Assembly Recovery

Scrap parts and assemblies often consists of a variety of plastics and metals which makes recycling them a real problem.

Whole Part & Assembly Recovery Case Studies
Aspiration

Aspiration is a process that uses air to separate dissimilar materials of different weight or to remove dust, fines and small particles from regrind or pelletized materials.

Aspiration Case Studies
Pelletizing

We can take regrind material and process it into pellets suitable for reintroduction to your manufacturing process using advanced filtration techniques coupled with other separation processes makes it possible to remove paper and wood and remove the burnt smell.

Pelletizing Case Studies
End of Life Plastics — Consumer Returns

If you have complex consumer returns or packaging, such as empty laser toner cartidges, buckets, drums, totes, dunnage trays, agricultural trays, coat hangers and many other products, we can reclaim plastic from them which can be reintroduced into your process or sold for higher value.

End of Life Plastics Case Studies
Buy / Sell

Whether you’re interested in selling your scrap plastic or looking for a source of reprocessed polymers, we’re a solution for both!

Need Help Figuring Out Which Of Our Services You Need?

No worries! We’re happy to help.

Our Scrap Plastic Capabilities

With more than 20 years in the industry, our facility is capable of doing so much with your scrap.

Granulator or Granulation

A process of reducing the size of parts or plastics to a size desired. Like these other technologies, Butler-MacDonald possesses many forms of granulation.

Shredder or Shredding

The process of bulk size reduction to enable other systems to accept the material.

Sink Float

A simple process of floating materials on water while others are allowed to sink. The density of an object determines whether it will float or sink in water.

Density Separation

Multiple forms of density separation can be used to separate different plastics by their inherent weight. Sink Float – for example - is a form of density separation.

Electrostatics

Electrostatic charges are imparted upon particles to attract or repel differently charged material thereby separating them from the particle mixture.

Aspiration

Introduction of a counter air stream thereby causing finer and lighter density particles to be moved one direction over the heavier particles.

Zig Zag Separator

A different means of achieving aspiration but material bounces from side to side in chute as it falls.

Gravity Separator

A system that utilizes three essential elements of a separation system - air flow, speed of vibration, and the deck's differential action allowing heavy materials to be separated from light materials producing two or more fractions.

Destoner

Similar function and outcome to that of the Gravity Separator but produces only two fractions, a light and heavy fraction.

Cyclone Separator and Hydrocyclone Separator

Both of these cyclones are used to separate solids or size materials aided by the media used within each device. Each device must be carefully selected for the outcome desired.

NIR Separator or Near Infrared Spectroscopy

By using near-infrared (NIR) sensors in compliance with extremely fast identification algorithms, these machines allow detection of differences in plastics based upon light transmission and reflectance. Typically pulsing air jets remove the fraction targeted from the mix. The failure of the technology can occur when the color of the plastic that is subjected to sensor identification is a dark color or of a small size. In these instances identification can fail. Pellet sized particles are almost impossible to identify.

Laser Separator or Laser Spectroscopy

Based on high-speed laser spectroscopy: it identifies material by using the opto-electronic spectrum. It has the advantage over NIR in that it can see smaller particles (with claims down to 0.7mm) and also can identify dark materials with some level of precision. Laser based units suffer in different ways than do NIR machines. Laser has not demonstrated ability to ID differences in polyolefins very well and also in many cases is not currently fast enough for its sensors to identify pellet sized material.

RGB Separator or Color Separation

There are multiple means of identifying contamination based upon differences in color, transparency, reflectance and light value. Some machines convert what you see into gray scale values, others can see color differences by RGB values and color spectrum. With a properly setup machine and the right machine choice, defects can be removed from plastic waste streams by a blast of air. The level and type of contamination greatly affects the outcome.

Melt Filtration

Where hot plastic is allowed to pass through a filter that can be made up of various sized screens, drums or discs that have pores or holes in the surface,  Laser filters are used to remove non-abrasive contaminants that are present in higher amounts than can be handled with screen base filter systems. Laser based systems are not effective in removing any contaminant smaller than roughly 70 microns. Screen based systems can deal with contaminants smaller than 70 microns but cannot work well with high contamination levels that exceed 0.5%. Neither technology works very well with highly flexible materials such as silicones, gels or foams.

Metal Removal and Metal Detection

These systems come in various capabilities, styles and the application of how they are used is the difference between success and failure. Metal removal is a key ability of Butler-MacDonald and one where many companies seek out our expertise in removing it from the plastic material.

Plastic Blending and Plastic Compounding

A process whereby colorant and additives are added to one to many plastic materials to change the appearance or physical properties of the final product produced.

Pelletizing or Pelletizer

Plastic is extruded through holes in a dye to form strands that are cut in to small pellets suitable for direct use into manufacturing.

Extrusion

Single and twin screw extruders are used to perform different functions based upon the needs required.

Screening and Fines Removal

Where sieves and/or punch plates are used to allow material to pass through or stay on top of one to multiple layers to achieve a size desired.

Ready to Recycle, Reprocess or Buy Industrial Plastic?

Butler-MacDonald works with all types of industries to provide the services you need, whether you have material you would like to recycle, need full service recycle/reprocess/reuse tolling, or you are looking for a source of sustainable plastic for manufacturing needs. Connect with us on your terms to take the next step.

The Possibilities of Scrap Plastic Recycling

Reprocessing the Wheel

Problem / Opportunity: The largest wheel & caster manufacturer in the world occasionally produces a load that doesn’t meet spec or that has a large number of over-runs.  To meet their green and sustainability initiatives, they were looking for a way not to landfill the incorrect spec runs and use those back into their feedstream. …

Medical Molding Scrap is a Good Source of HIPS

Problem / Opportunity: A medical molder had been recycling 1.2 million pounds per year of scrap plastics.  Whole parts, purge, floor sweepings and regrind were put on the truck.  Landfill avoidance was the minimum requirement although a greater value proposition existed.  The product line was primarily made from a HIPS resin yet was also mixed…

Security Means Good PC Source

Problem / Opportunity: An investment firm acquired a compounder of Polycarbonate. The investment was made to create a platform company and grow the footprint. To achieve growth, more post-consumer content was required at acceptable prices.  PC, specifically post-consumer PC is in high demand and short supply. They contacted Butler MacDonald to buy PC. We suggested…

Consumer Returns – Ag/Flower Trays

Problem / Opportunity: A thermoformer of HIPS agricultural trays has an internal means of recycling some of the materials it collects from growers and nurseries throughout the upper mid-west. About 50% of the material they collect is too contaminated with PET, PP, Talc PP (plus other polymers), including small amounts of dirt and rocks. Due…
Rejection Does Not Mean Sell Cheap Or Export

Rejection Does Not Mean Sell Cheap Or Export

Problem / Opportunity: A company that sells TPO needed a solution to fix 80,000 lbs. of mixed-color material that was rejected by their customer due to the presence of both nylon and TPU (urethane) contamination. Facing a significant loss in material value, the company was looking for options other than trashing the material or selling…
Silo Contamination: Polymers Get Recovered

Silo Contamination: Polymers Get Recovered

Problem / Opportunity: 50,000 lbs. of natural ABS virgin pellets had been contaminated with PVC pellets (square) anda trace amount of yellow concentrate and black resin – a result of silo cross-contamination.The material required immediate removal from the silo in order for the customer to get areplacement load of ABS pellets and maintain production. Impact…
Consumer Returns - Polymer Recovered

Consumer Returns – Polymer Recovered

Problem / Opportunity: A multi-national producer of toner cartridges needed a solution to the growing problem of consumer returns and the rising costs of HIPS resin. The returned material contains ABS, HIPS, Acetal (plus several other polymers), urethane and silicone rubber, foam and both ferrous and non-ferrous metal. Impact on Customer: The rising costs of…
Floor Sweeps & Waste: A Usable Plastic Resource

Floor Sweeps & Waste: A Usable Plastic Resource

Problem / Opportunity: A customer had an opportunity to purchase 40,000 lbs. of natural HIPS pellets contaminated with rocks and dirt from a ground spill at a very low price “as is.” This material also contained wire, metal, wood and several other commingled polymers that made it unusable. The customer had no idea whether or…
Window Profiles & Lineals: Metal & Mixed Plastic Are Not An Issue

Window Profiles & Lineals: Metal & Mixed Plastic Are Not An Issue

Problem / Opportunity: Window manufacturers produce scrap cutoffs and other rejects from the manufacturing of their PVC window products. The window parts can contain locks, handles, springs, weather stripping and other polymers such as nylon and PP. While some manufacturers and other recyclers will grind the material as is, they cannot recover all the PVC…
Contaminated Resins: ABS & PP Raw Material Bargains

Contaminated Resins: ABS & PP Raw Material Bargains

Problem / Opportunity: A silo with natural ABS prime resin had been cross-contaminated and time was of the essence. The source needed to get the material removed from their silo immediately (via bulk truck) so that replacement material could be received. One of our customers (a distributor) had an opportunity to bid on the commingled…
Metal Detector Rejects

Metal Detector Rejects

Problem / Opportunity: A few of our customers specialize in recycling PVC window and siding. To remove metal generated during granulation, they rely upon a metal detector and a magnet. While magnets can remove the ferrous metal (attracted to a magnetic), a metal detector was used to detect and remove the non-ferrous metal. Due to…
Contamination Not Seen Commingled PC, GPPS & PVC

Contamination Not Seen Commingled PC, GPPS & PVC

Problem / Opportunity: A compounder acquired what they believed to be clean, clear PC regrind contaminated with off-colored pieces. Thinking they could use the material as received, they blended the material so it could be used in production. Unfortunately, after the company blended the material they found the material was contaminated with other resins (clear…
Ground Spill Scrap: Usable Plastic Recovered

Ground Spill Scrap: Usable Plastic Recovered

Problem / Opportunity: 54,000 lbs. of dark gray/black ABS virgin pellets had been contaminated with wood, cardboard, dirt and rocks from a ground spill. Impact on Customer: With production now halted due to the ground spill and now contaminated material, the customer had to either immediately buy replacement prime ABS pellets or find someone who…
Color Separation Sometimes It Doesn’t Work

Color Separation Sometimes It Doesn’t Work

Problem / Opportunity: A company called us in search of someone who had a color sorter thinking that a color sort was the answer to a problem they were having. A bulk truck receiving error had resulted in 110,000 pounds of PP being erroneously blown into the PVC silo – resulting in a major cross-contamination…
Security Devices Source of Raw Materials

Security Devices Source of Raw Materials

Problem / Opportunity: A North American department store chain needed a solution for handling millions of clothing security devices without having to send them to a landfill. They approached a leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental services in North America, who partnered with Butler-MacDonald to provide a solution. Butler-MacDonald is often approached to recover…
Cap and Closure Scrap: Polymer Recovery Achieved

Cap and Closure Scrap: Polymer Recovery Achieved

Problem / Opportunity: One of the world’s leading manufacturers of PP caps and closures was generating scrap at their manufacturing facilities. This material was generated as whole closures (i.e. caps) or could be ground for destruction and freight savings purposes at their facility. In both cases the material was not suitable for use in the…
Metal In Parts & Assemblies: Plastic Can Be Recovered

Metal In Parts & Assemblies: Plastic Can Be Recovered

Problem / Opportunity: Inherent in the process of manufacturing parts is the need to include metal. The metal can be of various forms, weight and thickness. It’s required to make the part function. Most recycling efforts call for the use of manual labor to remove the metal part or assembly prior to grinding. The problem…
Irrigation Dripline Scrap: PE Polymer Recovered - Silicone Removed

Irrigation Dripline Scrap: PE Polymer Recovered – Silicone Removed

Problem / Opportunity: Major manufacturers of irrigation products and services wanted an alternative to sending their otherwise unusable production scrap to a landfill. Irrigation dripline scrap cannot be reused “as is” because of imbedded thermoset silicone emitters and incompatible polymers. In addition to landfill avoidance, our customers also wanted to recover the valuable PE from…
Coextruded PET Preforms Nylon Barrier Liberated - Both Plastics Recovered

Coextruded PET Preforms Nylon Barrier Liberated – Both Plastics Recovered

Problem / Opportunity: We were approached to find a way to separate Nylon from PET to recover PET. Bottle preforms can be coextruded with a Nylon barrier (above) sandwiched between two layers of PET. Our customer (another recycler/scrap buyer) was forced to take these along with more salable scrap PET resin when they won the…
e-Waste Solutions

e-Waste Solutions

Problem / Opportunity: Literally – for years – recovering an ongoing and sustainable plastic value derived from end-of-life dismantled electronics has been questionable at best. Almost always, export becomes the outlet – and that is not always available and only at minimal value. Impact on Customer: While a significant mix of polymers exists in eWaste…
Foil Lined Closures: Green is In

Foil Lined Closures: Green is In

Problem / Opportunity: A closure manufacturer was not able to reuse scrap closures because of the foil lining. They did not want to grind the scrap closures and introduce foil into the system. They tried other recyclers that do grinding, extrusion, melt filtering and pelletizing in the past, but the effort resulted in residual foil…
Purge, Strands and Die Drool: Once Waste Turns Unexpected Profits

Purge, Strands and Die Drool: Once Waste Turns Unexpected Profits

Problem / Opportunity: A pharmaceutical bottle manufacturer generates amber purge, stands and die drool as manufacturing scrap. The material is burnt and discolored from sitting in the barrel and also has adhered cardboard (stray polymers, screen packs, nuts, bolts & screws). The plant had a company repelletize the material but the lot was rejected for…
Paper lined closures: No Burnt Paper Stink

Paper lined closures: No Burnt Paper Stink

Problem / Opportunity: A closure manufacturer had a customer switch from a blue two piece assembled closure to an orange PP closure that required a paper liner. With the orange being a specific color, when scrap was generated they wanted to maintain a color sort to reclaim the orange colored polymer. However, they had no…
EVA Lined Closures: Commingled Polymer Contaminant

EVA Lined Closures: Commingled Polymer Contaminant

Problem / Opportunity: A closure manufacturer was not able to reuse scrap closures because of the EVA lining that is adhered to the interior of the cap. In an effort to reuse some of the material, the manufacturer had a company grind and repelletize the EVA lined closures but found the residual EVA caused failure…
Label Scrap (L-Scrap): Paper Is Out – Plastic Is In

Label Scrap (L-Scrap): Paper is Out – Plastic is In

Problem / Opportunity: A PET bottle manufacturer generates defect bottles with adhered labels. The labels cannot go back into the melt stream. Solution: During Butler-MacDonald’s initial sample evaluation, metal and color contaminants were found in addition to the labels. Amoung the many other things we can do, Butler-MacDonald is set up to remove metals, colors…
Coextruded Window Profiles: Coextruded Parts

Coextruded Window Profiles: Coextruded Parts

Problem / Opportunity: A custom profile extrusion manufacturer generated scrap coextruded profiles on a monthly basis. The two polymers, rigid PVC (white) and flexible PVC (black), are not compatible in the melt stream. Prior to using Butler MacDonald, the company had other recycler’s sort the two materials but suffered a 25% yield loss. Impact on…
Silo Contamination Ground Spill: (Natural Mixed With White PET)

Silo Contamination Ground Spill: (Natural Mixed With White PET)

Problem / Opportunity: A bottle manufacturer accidentally dumped virgin white PET pellets & regrind on top of natural virgin PET pellets & regrind. To further complicate matters, when they drained the silo a portion of the material spilled on the railroad tracks. Color sorting the white PET from the clear PET would make it very…
Contaminated PET Pellets; PVC Comingled

Contaminated PET Pellets; PVC Comingled

Problem / Opportunity: A multinational custom compounder had four truck loads of black PVC pellets that had been contaminated with white PET pellets (pepper and salt). Had it all been PVC, they would color over the white with the black. But in this case, the white was PET. Solution: A sister plant referred the Plant…
Mixed Plastic Separation Blending Mishaps Do Not Equal Loss In Value

Mixed Plastic Separation Blending Mishaps Do Not Equal Loss In Value

Problem / Opportunity: A company that sells PCABS needed a solution to fix 120,000 lbs. of material that was blended with ABS. Facing a significant loss in material value, the company was looking for options other than trashing the material or selling “as is” for export. Based upon these options, the customer would incur a…
Silo Mix PET & PE Bulk Truck Errors

Silo Mix PET & PE Bulk Truck Errors

Problem / Opportunity: Receiving material in bulk is a great way to save on material handling and get good buys on material. Unfortunately, at some point its likely that the truck will hookup to the wrong point and then if your plant is like this one, where they run two incompatible materials, you will have…