separation of a mixture of beverage bottles is shown in fig1 the bottle mixture was fed into a wet - operating cutting mill and , under addition of water , crushed to a particle size of under 6 mm . the dirt solution , which also contained paper , was drawn off . subsequently , the material was vigorously stirred in a washer , which cleaned the surfaces and prepared the latter for the later electrostatic separation . for separating the polyolefins ( pe ), the substances was admitted into a hydrocyclone . the resulting pvc - pet -- mixture was separated from the liquid on a vibration screen , centrifuged , and dried for 6 minutes in a fluidized - bed dryer at 70 ° to 100 ° c . in the fluidized bed , any last paper residues that might still be present can be discharged with the exhaust air and separated from the exhaust air by means of a cyclone . the predried material was subsequently contacted in another fluidized - bed dryer for another 3 minutes at 30 ° c . and at the same time charged . the material draining from the fluidized bed was continuously admitted to a separating plant consisting of two separators . a pet - concentrate with 99 . 4 % pet is obtained already in the preliminary separation ; the pvc - concentrate with a pvc - content of 82 . 3 % was conveyed to the after - separation separator by means of a spiral worm , whereby the selective charging of the plastic particles developed . in the after - separation separator , the preconcentrate so charged was separated into a high - percent pvc - concentrate , a medium - material fraction , and a deconcentration fraction containing about 53 % pet . the latter together with the medium material of the preseparation was recycled into the fluidized bed for new charging . all in all , it was possible to separate the plastic mixture into separation of a pe / pp / ps / pvc plastic mixture is shown in fig2 the used mixture of used plastic articles contained four of the most commonly used mass plastics in the following composition : 100 kg of said mixture was first completely crushed on a cutting mill to a grain size of under 6 mm . the shred mixture was fed into a washer and stirred with fresh water . the washed material was transferred into a flotation basin filled with water , whereas the dirt solution was discarded . the light fraction containing the polyolefins was skimmed off , whereas the heavy fraction containing the pvc and ps was sucked off at the bottom of the basin . both fractions were predehydrated by means of centrifuging . the pp / pe - fraction was fed into a fluidized - bed dryer and dried for 6 minutes at 80 ° c . a fatty acid mixture c8 - c12 was sprayed onto the draining material in an amount of 50 g / t , and fluidizing was carried out in another fluidized - bed dryer for 3 minutes at 30 ° c . the mixture flowing from the fluidized bed was continuously fed into a free - fall separator . the medium material of said separation was continuously recycled into the second fluidized - bed dryer . ______________________________________ analysis yield quantity ( degree of purity ( in % of the kg in %) charge ) ______________________________________pe - fraction 44 . 1 96 . 6 92 . 2pp - fraction 20 . 6 88 . 5 90 . 7______________________________________ the heavy fraction was transferred into a fluidized - bed dryer with a connected cooler , dried in the heating zone for about 6 minutes at 80 ° c ., and fluidized in the cooling zone for about 3 minutes at 30 ° c . the electrostatic separation , with recycling of the medium material in this case too , supplied the following result : ______________________________________ analysis yield quantity ( degree of purity ( in % of the kg in %) charge ) ______________________________________pvc - fraction 17 . 3 97 . 1 95 . 9ps - fraction 14 . 8 94 . 3 93 . 7______________________________________ separation of a pe / ps / pet / pvc - mixture into the individual components is shown in fig3 kg of said mixture was first completely crushed in a cutting mill to a grain size of under 6 mm . the shred mixture was fed into a washer and stirred with fresh water . the washed material was filled in a flotation basin filled with potash waste liquor with a density of 1 . 2 g / cm 3 . the light fraction containing pe and ps was skimmed off , whereas the heavy fraction containing pvc and pet was sucked off at the bottom of the basin . both fractions were predehydrated on a swing screen , washed with fresh water , and subsequently predehydrated on centrifuges to an adhering moisture of 2 %. the salt - containing waste waters collected in the density separation and predehydration can be recycled into the potash dissolving operation for treatment . both fractions were fed into separate fluidized - bed dryers equipped in each case with a heating and a cooling zone . in the hot zone , the materials were heated to 80 ° c ., whereby the dwelling time came to about 6 minutes , whereas the cooling zone connected downstream was operated with unheated air . the materials flowing from the fluidized beds were fed into electrostatic free - fall separators , whereby the collected medium materials were recycled into the fluidized beds . ______________________________________ analysis yield quantity ( degree of purity ( in % of the kg in %) charge ) ______________________________________pe - fraction 43 . 8 95 . 6 93 . 5ps - fraction 27 . 7 92 . 4 92 . 9______________________________________ the following result was obtained in the electrostatic separation of the heavy fraction : ______________________________________ analysis yield quantity ( degree of purity ( in % of the kg in %) charge ) ______________________________________pvc - fraction 12 . 6 93 . 9 96 . 6pet - fraction 9 . 2 97 . 1 88 . 0______________________________________