Kitech at K 2025: Defining the Future of Plastic Recycling with Auto Laser Screen Changer

K Show in Germany is a global trendsetter for the rubber and plastics industry. At the recently concluded 2025 event, Kitech Machinery, a company with 10 years of experience in plastic recycling, not only showcased its leading automatic laser filter changer but also shared its profound insights into the future of the plastic recycling industry. Through the exhibition, Kitech presented its philosophy, "Reborn Plastic with Key Tech," to the world. We firmly believe that large-scale, automated, and intelligent processes are the key to unlocking the billion-dollar plastic recycling market.

I. Kitech Auto Laser Filter: The Industry Standard for Plastic Recycling Filtration

In the large-scale production of recycled plastics, frequent downtime for filter changers, high labor costs, and inconsistent filtration effects hinder the quality of plastic pellets. Kitech's automatic laser filter changer, presented at K Show, is the ultimate solution to these pain points. Designed specifically for handling complex and highly polluting recycled plastics (such as PP, PE, LDPE, HDPE, ABS, PS, PVB, PVC, etc.), it efficiently filters out stubborn impurities such as iron, steel, aluminum, copper, wood chips, unmelted plastic, sand, and even stones, significantly improving the purity and quality of recycled granules.

II. Core Advantages of the Laser Screen Changer

1. No Manual Screen Changing Required:The built-in six-scraper high-frequency self-cleaning system quickly removes impurities from the filter surface, eliminating the need for manual screen cleaning and significantly reducing labor costs. This ensures 24/7 uninterrupted production line operation, maximizing output.

2. Extra-Long Service Life: The core laser screen is made of 1.5mm thickened high-strength chromium-molybdenum steel, possessing excellent wear resistance and toughness, significantly reducing replacement frequency and maintenance costs.

3. Superior Filtration Accuracy: Advanced laser technology creates thousands of precision micropores, achieving a stable filtration accuracy between 80-800 microns, ensuring that every recycled granule meets high standards.

4. Superior Filtration Accuracy: Utilizing advanced laser technology to create thousands of precision micropores, the filtration accuracy remains stable between 80-800 microns, ensuring that every recycled granule meets high standards.

5. Intelligent Constant Pressure Operation: The system intelligently adjusts the melt pressure in real time to achieve "constant pressure mode" operation, ensuring stable and efficient filtration even with highly contaminated and difficult-to-process raw materials.

6. Low Melt Loss: The polymer melt loss rate during impurity removal is only 1%-3%, far lower than traditional filter screen changers, directly reducing raw material waste and improving economic efficiency.

7. Intelligent PLC Control: Utilizing a PLC control system from internationally renowned brands (such as Siemens/Schneider Electric/ABB), equipped with an intuitive 3D visualization interface, one-button start/stop, simple operation, and high reliability.

III. Market Outlook: The Plastic Recycling Industry Enters a Golden Era

The industry is ushering in unprecedented development opportunities. Data shows that the Chinese waste plastic recycling market is expected to reach 110 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 15%. Among them, the market size of recycled plastic pellets is as high as 87.5 billion yuan, demonstrating huge market potential.

Globally, the recycled plastics market reached $75.49 billion in sales in 2024 and is projected to climb to $108.54 billion by 2031, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4% (2025-2031). This growth trend reflects that despite short-term market fluctuations, the recycled plastics industry still has significant growth potential in the long run.

Strong policy support has also injected strong momentum into the industry's development. China's plastics recycling industry will undergo a strategic upgrade from "mandatory use" to "value creation." With the formal implementation of the Ecological and Environmental Protection Law and the introduction of a series of policies such as the "14th Five-Year Plan Action Plan for Plastic Pollution Control," the scope and proportion of recycled plastic use will further expand, industry standards and certification systems will be further improved, and technological innovation and supply chain integration will become important drivers of industry development.

Downstream high-end application demand is booming. Taking HDPE as an example, the demand for high-end recycled materials in food packaging, automotive parts, and other fields is growing rapidly. International giants such as Unilever and Volkswagen have clearly stated their plans to significantly increase the proportion of recycled plastics used in their products by 2026. This means that manufacturers capable of providing large-volume, high-quality, and highly stable recycled materials will become the new favorites in the market.

Recycled plastics have wide applications: In the automotive industry, the application of recycled plastics is gradually becoming a trend. From interior seats and dashboards to body panels such as bumpers and door panels, recycled plastics are widely used. This not only reduces the weight of vehicles and lowers energy consumption but also reduces environmental pollution. In the construction sector, recycled plastics also play an important role. They are widely used in the manufacture of building panels, pipes, and insulation materials, not only reducing construction costs but also improving the environmental performance of building materials.

VI. Future Outlook: High Automation, Large Output, and Low Energy Plastic Recycling are Inevitable Paths

Currently, China's recycling system is still dominated by community recycling stations and small workshops, with a recycling rate of approximately 30%. The stability of raw material supply is insufficient, making it difficult to meet downstream demand for large-scale production of high-quality recycled materials.

1. Large-Scale Capacity Development Trend: Future recycling plants must be large-scale to match the ever-increasing production demands. The challenges brought by the influx of large manufacturers cannot be ignored. On the one hand, large manufacturers dominate the low-to-mid-end market with their scale advantages and brand effects; on the other hand, they are accelerating their penetration into the high-end market through technological upgrades and overseas expansion. In July 2025, the operating index of small and medium-sized enterprises in the recycled plastics industry was only 49%, below the industry's boom-bust line, indicating that small and medium-sized enterprises will face severe survival pressure in the future.

2. Pursuit of High Automation: The rise of the "Internet + Recycling" model (increasing from 3.7% in 2021 to 12.8% in 2025) foreshadows improved efficiency. On the production side, Kitech Equipment's intelligent PLC control and one-button operation are a key step towards achieving "lights-out factories" and reducing reliance on human labor.

3. Achieving Low Energy Consumption Goals: Sustainable development demands lower energy consumption. Just as companies like Sinopec have achieved a 25% reduction in energy consumption through innovation in chemical recycling technology, Kitech, in the field of physical recycling, achieves a dual reduction in energy and material consumption for its clients through intelligent constant pressure operation and extremely low polymer loss, directly increasing profit margins.

The trip to the K Show in Germany was not only a showcase but also a learning and validation opportunity.

Kitech Machinery will continue to delve into the forefront of the plastic recycling field, providing customers with automated, high-value, low-energy plastic recycling solutions, helping global customers build large-scale, highly automated factories of the future. Kitech Machinery's product line not only covers filter exchangers but also includes plastic granulation lines, plastic recycling washing lines, shredders, crushers, dewatering machines, and extruders, meeting diverse customer production needs.