What PP scrap is

Polypropylene is a semi-crystalline commodity polymer with a density around 0.90 to 0.91 g/cm3, the lowest of the high-volume plastics. That lightness is an advantage in the finished product and a problem in recycling, because a truckload of PP scrap weighs roughly a tenth less than the same volume of PVC, and freight is charged by the truck. It is also why PP scrap is normally baled or granulated close to where it is collected rather than shipped loose.

PP is versatile in a way polyethylene is not: it can be made stiff enough for a crate, soft enough for a woven sack tape, tough enough for a battery case, and heat resistant enough for a food container. Each of those products uses a different grade, and mixing them produces a regrind that satisfies none of the applications. Grading PP scrap properly is the whole skill.

The PP scrap grades we buy

We group PP scrap by the product it came from, because the product tells us the melt flow, the filler content and the likely contamination.

Where our PP scrap comes from

Cement plants and fertiliser packers are the largest single source. A cement plant consumes woven PP sacks by the million and generates torn and rejected bags continuously, so the stream is steady, well identified and already concentrated at one site. Rice and flour mills add similar material on a seasonal cycle.

Injection moulders supply plant scrap, runners and rejects, which is the cleanest PP scrap available because it has never left the factory. Retail and industrial collection supplies crates, containers and caps, and the automotive sector supplies battery cases and interior parts. We import baled PP from the Gulf and Southeast Asia to fill the seasonal gaps when local collection slows.

Specification we work to

PP is specified by melt flow rate, by whether it is homopolymer or copolymer, and by filler content. Those three numbers decide what a moulder can make from it, and they vary more between PP products than density varies between polyethylenes.

Contamination, print and the PE problem

Polyethylene is the constant companion of PP scrap. Bottle caps with HDPE liners, sack lamination, and mixed post-consumer collection all introduce PE into a PP stream. The two polymers are close enough in density that a simple float-sink tank cannot always separate them, and the result is a regrind with inconsistent stiffness. Where the mix is significant we send the load to a separate PE/PP blend stream and declare it.

Print and lamination are the second issue. Woven sacks carry heavy printed ink, and some are laminated with a thin film layer. Ink disperses into the melt and darkens the regrind, which confines it to dark products. Washing removes some of it; nothing removes all of it.

Filler is the third and the least visible. Talc-filled automotive grades and glass-filled engineering grades contain mineral load that raises density and changes melt behaviour. A moulder expecting unfilled PP will find the part heavier and stiffer than predicted, so we measure and report filler content where the source is known.

How we buy PP scrap

We buy by weight after inspection, with bales assessed on bulk density as well as on weight because a loose bale of sacks contains a lot of air. For industrial generators we set up scheduled collection so the material never accumulates. For traders, photographs of the bales plus an approximate tonnage and location are enough to start.

Clean, single-source PP commands the best rate. A cement plant’s rejected sacks are worth more than an equivalent weight of mixed household PP, and the difference is not arbitrary — one goes straight into production and the other goes through a sorting line.

How we recycle PP scrap

Baled sacks are de-baled, inspected for PE lamination and foreign material, then granulated. The granulate is washed, dried and density-separated, and where the material is destined for a light-coloured product it goes through an additional washing stage to lift the ink. Drying matters more for PP than for HDPE because raffia grades are thin and hold surface moisture.

The output is bagged as regrind or pelletised with filtration for buyers who need a uniform feed. We keep raffia grade, injection grade and filled grades separate wherever the volumes allow, because a moulder who buys the wrong one will get a part that fails either on impact or on stiffness.

What is made from recycled PP scrap

Recycled PP is a strong, chemically resistant, heat-tolerant material and it goes into a wide range of industrial and consumer products.

• Woven sacks, FIBC and raffia tape for packaging
• Injection-moulded crates, boxes, trays and pallets
• Automotive battery cases and under-bonnet components
• Caps, closures and industrial fittings
• Garden furniture, planters and landscaping products
• Housewares, buckets and storage containers
• Fibre and non-woven for industrial textiles
• Compound feedstock for filled and reinforced PP grades

What moves the price of PP scrap

PP scrap prices follow the packaging cycle. When cement, fertiliser and rice are being bagged in volume, sack scrap is scarce because the mills are consuming new bags and the damaged ones get reworked locally. When the construction season slows, torn sacks accumulate and the price falls. That seasonality is stronger for PP than for any other stream we handle, which is why we hold imported bale stock through the tight months.

Lightness compounds everything. A truck of PP brings noticeably less weight than the same truck of PVC, so freight is a bigger share of the landed cost and the effective collection radius is smaller. That favours sellers who bale or granulate on site: reducing volume before transport is often worth more than negotiating harder on the per-kilo rate.

Specifying PP scrap: what to send us

• What the scrap came from — woven sacks, FIBC, crates, caps, containers, battery cases or automotive parts
• Whether it is homopolymer or copolymer, if the source tells you
• Whether the material is unfilled or mineral-filled (talc, glass), since filler changes the whole pricing basis
• Whether it is baled or loose, and the approximate bale weight
• Approximate monthly tonnage and whether supply is seasonal
• Whether polyethylene is mixed in — lamination on sacks, HDPE liners, or general post-consumer mixing

Buying PP scrap from Al Qaryan Industries

Al Qaryan Industries buys PP scrap from cement plants, fertiliser and rice packers, injection moulders, retailers and traders throughout Pakistan, and supplies recycled PP regrind and granules to moulders, raffia producers and compounders. Around 500 tons of plastic moves through our Karachi facility each month.

Selling to us: tell us the product the scrap came from, since that tells us the grade. Send photographs, the tonnage and the location on WhatsApp at +92 333 201 0506. For industrial generators we will set up a collection schedule.

Buying from us: specify homopolymer or copolymer, the melt flow your machine needs, whether filler is acceptable and your monthly tonnage. We will confirm what we can hold on a repeat basis and supply a trial load first.

Questions buyers and suppliers ask

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