Industrial sourcing · China to Europe

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Buyer guide · Recycling

PET bottle washing line from China

A PET bottle washing line is sold by tonnes per hour, but your flake is sold on what stays in it: PVC, glue, caps and water, and no listing states those.

Ask about this machine ↗Where the numbers come from

Written and listings checked 30 September 2026. Every figure on this page names its source.

What you are actually comparing.

Two quotes, one machine name

What hides inside the price

Hot wash or cold wash only

A hot caustic washer takes off glue and label residue. Some lines are only friction washers and a float tank. Ask for hot wash tank volume, residence time and how caustic strength is controlled.

Label remover and pre-sorting before the grinder

Sleeved and labelled bottles need a label remover and a sorting belt before the grinder. A line that starts at the crusher assumes cleaner bales than most European bales.

Float-sink separation of caps

PET sinks in water and PP or PE caps float. Tank length and how the floating fraction is taken off decide how many caps stay in your flake.

Water treatment and make-up water

Many offers stop at the last tank. Ask what treats the dirty water and how much fresh water the line needs per tonne.

Wet parts in stainless steel

Caustic and hot water eat mild steel. Ask which tanks, screws and pipes are stainless, and which grade.

Before you ask for a price.

Send these with the enquiry. Without them, any number a factory gives you is a guess dressed as a quotation.

Your input: bale grade, colour mix and share of sleeved bottles, with photos of an opened bale.
The flake you must sell: target limits for PVC, glue, caps, labels and moisture, as your buyer writes them.
Whether flakes go to fibre, sheet, strapping or a food-contact decontamination step after this line.
Water available, effluent route, and whether you heat with steam, gas or electricity.
Building length and height, because float tanks and dryers set the footprint.

Turn the claim into a demonstration.

Require this	A pass looks like
Run a tonne of your own bales through the complete line, not bales chosen by the factory.	Output weighed over a timed run and matching the throughput written in the offer.
Take flake samples at the end of the line at agreed intervals and send them to an independent lab.	PVC, glue, polyolefin and moisture results inside the limits written into the contract.
Record water, caustic and energy meters during the same run.	Consumption per tonne written into the FAT report, so you can cost the line before shipment.

The documents that must arrive with it.

EU Declaration of Conformity for the line as an assembly, under 2006/42/EC until 19 January 2027, then Regulation (EU) 2023/1230.
Electrical schematics and the references to low voltage 2014/35/EU and EMC 2014/30/EU for panels and heaters.
Process diagram showing every tank, pump, dosing point and water loop.

The one people forget. One safety concept for guarding and emergency stops across machines from different sub-suppliers. Buyers find it missing at the first inspection.

When this is the wrong machine.

Buy something else if

Named, not hedged

Your flake must go back into food-contact packaging in the EU.

A washing line plus a decontamination process that fits Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 on recycled plastic for food contact. Price that process first.

Most of your input is film, bags or wrap rather than bottles.

A plastic film washing line. Film floats, holds water and wraps around shafts.

Where the numbers come from.

We name the kind of source, how many and when, and never the factory. Listed prices are asking prices, not landed cost. Where we do not hold a fact we say so: that is a GAP, not an estimate.

Listings · 8Eight marketplace listings for PET bottle washing lines that stated a capacity, checked September 2026, gave 300 to 6,000 kg per hour and advertised from US$5,000 to US$500,000. Five of the eight gave a price range whose top was at least double its bottom. Asking prices, not landed cost.
Listings · 50Of fifty listings in one marketplace search for PET bottle washing lines, checked September 2026, six titles claimed food grade output or an FDA certificate.
GAPGAP - no supplier quotations logged for this machine yet. Three to five quotations for one configuration would give a real price spread.

Related machines.

Plastic film washing line. Choose a film washing line when your input is mostly bags, wrap and agricultural film rather than bottles.
Plastic recycling line. Look at a plastic recycling line when you need pellets, not washed flake.

Every machine we source in this area is on the Recycling page. How a project runs, stage by stage, is on how it works, and what it costs is on pricing.

Straight answers

Questions buyers ask about this machine.

Chinese vs European PET bottle washing line: where is the difference?+

In the hot wash, the water treatment, stainless wet parts and the process knowledge behind residence times. Compare the flake specification each line promises, not tonnes per hour.

What goes on a PET bottle washing line inspection checklist?+

Serial plates against the declaration, stainless grades, a timed run on your bales, lab results on flake, meter readings, and emergency stops across the whole line.

What CE documentation does a PET washing line need?+

One EU Declaration of Conformity covering the assembled line, with the technical file behind it. Separate CE marks on each machine do not cover how they work together.

Who is the EU importer of a PET washing line bought direct?+

You are, when you buy direct. Your name and address go on the machine or its documents, and you check the conformity file. The waste permit for the site is also your matter.

Contact

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