Hot Melter...Compactor…if you work in an industry that generates a great deal of polystyrene scrap, you’ve probably heard both terms being thrown around quite often. One thing you probably do know is that these machines can condense scrap polystyrene packaging blocks and boxes at an optimal volume reduction ratio.

Many manufacturers of polystyrene melting machines refer to their equipment as polystyrene densifiers or thermal densifiers. It seems like many manufacturers of polystyrene cold compression systems with screw augers refer to them as polystyrene compactors. Companies that sell hydraulically driven systems tend to call them densifiers or compactors. In the end, all three types of systems — screw, hydraulic or thermal — reduce lightweight foam materials into blocks. All three types of machinery are capable of densifying and compressing a variety of materials.

Understanding Polystyrene Recycling Machine Options

We briefly mentioned a few types of compression systems above. Now, let’s take a deeper dive into screw, hydraulic and Hot Melter.

Screw-type Compactor

Screw-type compactors work when you need to compact foam that has one consistent density. This type of machine uses augers to push foam through at different speeds and amounts of pressure based on how much foam needs to be processed. These machines will compact the foam into solid blocks.

With screw-type polystyrene compactors, like the GREENMAX A series, you can efficiently densify multiple varieties of foam materials with one system. The A series use cold compression to densify foam with screw-auger technology. This promotes energy-efficiency.

Hydraulic polystyrene compactor

These machines don’t require the use of heat during the compaction process. That means you don’t have to worry about chemical smells or smoke. Hydraulic compactors rely on hydraulic pressure to compress the foam and break down its elasticity. These foam densifier machines are capable of processing foams with various densities all at once.

Hot Melting Machine

Hot Melting Machine bring the heat — literally. These Polystyrene hot melting machine do exactly what their names imply. They use heat to melt down foam so it can be extruded and put into containers. These Hot Melting Machines can also handle multiple types of foams at once.

What’s the difference between compactors and hot melters?

Let’s get back to the question. What’s the difference between compactors and hot melters? You might be under the impression that they’re two totally different things when it comes to polystyrene recycling. But to us, it’s all just semantics! These terms tend to be used interchangeably. So, in order to make sure that you get the right equipment for your company, just look for the machine that can handle the foam scrap you have in a manner that lines up with your recycling objectives.

Why you can rely on GREENMAX Polystyrene Recycling Machine

GREENMAX is the leader in foam recycling through machine design. The company has managed to overcome the limitations that exist with many polystyrene recycling machine. GREENMAX systems are built robust as well as technically efficient.

GREENMAX polystyrene recycling machines utilize electrically driven, automatic density controls to adjust pressure to ensure homogeneous density of compressed material. GREENMAX systems are also easy to use even without prior knowledge of the equipment. GREENMAX polystyrene recycling machines can produce high-density compressed blocks of polystyrene and other materials with a low level of energy expenditure. And thanks to GREENMAX’s high-quality components, their compaction systems require minimal scheduled maintenance and are known for having long service lives.

If you have questions about our selection of GREENMAX polystyrene recycling machines or our company in general, reach out to us today. We look forward to helping you.