The final rinse — and the point where floating contamination is separated out.
Overview
After friction washing, flake carries loosened dirt and fragments of label paper. The rinsing pool flushes the dirt away in clean water and, because the pool is a still body of water, it also separates by density: label paper and light film float and are skimmed off, while denser plastic sinks.
Water circuit
Pools are arranged so water flows counter to the material — cleanest water meets the cleanest flake. Water is recirculated through the line rather than used once and discharged, which reduces both consumption and the volume of waste water to handle.
Configuration
Single or multi-stage pools are specified according to the required final purity. Bottle flake destined for food-grade reprocessing needs more rinsing stages than material going to lower-grade applications.
