Plastic Extrusion – A Breakdown

As you will have seen in previous blog entries the process of plastic extrusion allows the production of a huge range of useful products. Many of you might question how one process leads to the creation of such a variety of products! Well, the process of plastic extrusion has to start somewhere, so let us break it down.

To start with, raw plastic materials are needed which are usually in granulate or powder form. This raw material can then have certain properties added to it, depending on the type of product that is being produced. Therefore, the process that distinguishes what type of product is to be created, starts very early on. This could include the addition of additives or certain colourants.

This plastic material is then fed into an extruder, and is melted and mixed together until it turns into a pliable plastic form, very similar to hot Play-Do. It is pushed along a barrel by a screw that is turning and this forces the plastic through the Die to create the required shape. This process creates some of the weird and wonderful plastic products that we see in the world today.