a plastic pellet cleaning apparatus and method for producing plastic pellets for optical lense molding is provided . the plastic is melted and molded utilizing an injection molding process to produce optical lenses which will be used for a variety of applications . the apparatus and method disclosed will produce plastic pellets substantially clean of contaminants which would otherwise cause microscopic defects in the optical lenses produced therefrom . generally , optical lenses produced which have these defects are rejected .