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Home / How Should You Select Plastic Granulating Equipment for PC, ABS, and Nylon Sprues?

How Should You Select Plastic Granulating Equipment for PC, ABS, and Nylon Sprues?

2026/10/26 By le zhan

How Should You Select Plastic Granulating Equipment for PC, ABS, and Nylon Sprues

First, we believe it is important to start with the characteristics of the waste material itself, rather than focusing solely on motor power or shredder size. PC gate material is both hard and highly impact-resistant; ABS combines rigidity with toughness; and nylon, depending on the grade, may exhibit high hardness, wear resistance, or reinforced properties. These physical properties directly determine the cutting torque, rotor speed, cutter design, and dust control methods required for plastic granulating equipment.

To address the need for recycling hard gate material right next to injection molding machines, Topstar’s TGL series low speed sound-proof granulator feature a screenless, high-torque design with a speed range of 20–28 rpm, specifically engineered to process hard gate materials such as PC, nylon, and ABS. Below, we will provide specific guidance on how to make the right choice and highlight some of the key advantages of the TGL series to help you make a more informed decision.

Selecting Plastic Granulating Equipment Based on Material and Sprue Characteristics

Before selecting a plastic granulator, it is essential to identify the polymer grade, sprue size, wall thickness, and type of reinforcing material, and to determine whether the scrap is hard, tough, flexible, or abrasive.

For example, thin-walled, unreinforced nylon sprues place a vastly different load on the shredding blades than thick-walled, glass-fiber-reinforced nylon sprues. Similarly, PC and ABS grades that have been modified to enhance impact strength exhibit different shredding characteristics. Therefore, the selection should be based on the actual injection molding scrap generated.

Selecting Plastic Granulating Equipment Based on Material and Sprue Characteristics

What Are the Differences Between PC, ABS, and Nylon Sprues?

PC is generally hard, but it should not simply be classified as a “brittle” material. Commercial-grade PC for injection molding typically offers excellent impact resistance. Take Covestro, for example: several of its Makrolon injection-molding-grade PC grades feature “enhanced impact strength” as a core characteristic. This means that thick PC gate material may not break easily during shredding, so the cutting tools must have stronger cutting grip rather than relying solely on impact to break it apart.

ABS behaves differently. The styrene in its composition imparts rigidity to the material, while butadiene provides ductility and impact resistance. You can cut ABS runners cleanly, but thick cross-sections and impact-modified grades may require more torque.

Nylon materials offer high hardness, rigidity, wear resistance, and heat resistance, along with greater stiffness and mechanical strength than many other materials. However, these properties can accelerate cutting tool wear during processing, so you should consider them carefully when selecting equipment.

What Are the Differences Between PC, ABS, and Nylon Sprues

The Importance of “Low Speed, High Torque” for Processing Hard Gate Material

When processing hard gate material (runner material) next to an injection molding machine, using a lower rotor speed offers greater advantages than simply increasing the speed. The key lies in applying sufficient torque to shear the gate material gradually, while minimizing unnecessary impact, heat generation, noise, and the production of powder (fine particles).

Topstar’s TGL series plastic granulator operates at 20–28 rpm and features a gear-driven, screenless design. The TGL series handles hard gates and runner scrap from PC, nylon, ABS, PBT, and similar materials. This low-speed design not only reduces noise and powder generation but also ensures a relatively uniform particle size distribution in the recycled material.

One point to note:
Even at low operating speeds, the grinder needs enough cutting capacity and torque to handle the thickest runners you may encounter during production. If the gate material is much larger, thicker, or heavier than typical in-line scrap, you may need a more powerful plastic granulator—even when the polymer itself falls within the TGL series’ application range.

Selecting Plastic Granulating Equipment Based on Recycled Material Quality and Production Processes

Once the material’s cutting characteristics are understood, the focus of equipment selection should shift to the production system. Even if a particular pelletizer is capable of physically cutting the gate, it is still not the ideal choice if its throughput, pellet quality, noise level, footprint, or recycling method do not align with the injection molding production unit. Particularly in line-side recycling scenarios, plastic granulating equipment must be able to reliably process the scrap generated from every mold cycle without becoming a production bottleneck or generating excessive dust around the injection molding machine.

Selecting Plastic Granulating Equipment Based on Recycled Material Quality and Production Processes

What Factors Should Be Considered Regarding Throughput, Dust, and Recycled Material Quality?

Selecting the right plastic granulating equipment requires more than confirming that it can cut the sprue. The equipment must also match the actual scrap volume, the required regrind quality, and the way recycled material will return to production.

Match throughput to the actual scrap rate.
Calculate the weight of runners and defective parts generated per injection molding cycle, then compare it with the granulator’s practical processing capacity. Do not select equipment only by injection molding machine tonnage, because two machines with the same clamping force can generate very different amounts of runner material.

Control particle size, dust, and noise.
If the goal is uniform machine-side regrind with minimal fines, a screenless, low-speed plastic granulator is a suitable option. Topstar’s TGL series uses a screenless design to produce relatively uniform particles with low dust generation, while its double-layer sound-insulated hopper helps reduce operating noise.

Consider how quickly the regrind returns to production.
When you plan to reuse recycled material directly, keep its time outside the production process to a minimum to help reduce moisture absorption and oxidation. Topstar’s TGL series supports “30-second immediate recycling,” so you can granulate sprues and runners and return them to the material cycle shortly after molding.

These factors determine whether a low-speed, machine-side granulator can support stable recycling without becoming a bottleneck in the injection molding cell.

What Factors Should Be Considered Regarding Throughput, Dust, and Recycled Material Quality

When Should You Choose the Topstar TGL Series?

The Topstar TGL series is ideal for processing hard gates, runners, and small defective parts right next to injection molding machines. It is particularly well-suited for applications requiring low rotational speed, low dust, low noise, and instant recycling. Its scope of application covers gate materials made of hard PC, nylon, ABS, and PBT.
At the same time, the TGL low speed sound-proof granulator combines multiple features:

It features a rotor operating at 20–28 rpm, a screenless design, gear motor drive, a compact footprint, and cutting blades specifically designed for the repeated recycling of engineering plastics.

However, don’t choose the TGL series based solely on whether you process PC, ABS, or nylon. Large injection-molded parts, thick blocks, high scrap volumes, and materials with high reinforcing-material content often require greater cutting force or a more powerful plastic granulator.

Topstar also offers granulator machines covering other series and features:
The TGL series is primarily designed for processing hard sprues at the injection molding machine;
The TGP series of high-performance machines is designed to handle thicker products and larger volumes of hard plastic scrap.

Selection Logic for Plastic Granulation Equipment for PC, ABS, and Nylon Sprues

We recommend following this clear process when selecting plastic granulating equipment for PC, ABS, and nylon sprue scrap:

Identify the specific resin grade → Examine the gate thickness and geometry → Calculate the scrap processing volume → Assess the content of reinforcing materials and the risk of cutter wear → Define tolerance limits for dust and noise → Determine whether to use an in-line or centralized recovery system → Select the appropriate plastic pelletizing equipment based on these factors.

For PC, ABS, and nylon gate material, the core objective is not merely to “shred plastic.” The right Plastic granulator machine should be capable of reliably crushing hard runners while minimizing the generation of fine dust, heat, and noise, and reducing maintenance requirements. When the scrap consists of typical PC, ABS, or nylon runners, the Topstar TGL series low speed sound-proof granulator is an ideal choice.

 

 

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