New Chapter in The Plastic Industry: How Twin-screw Extruders Lead The Sustainable Manufacturing Revolution
The global extruder market is expected to grow from $11.8 billion in 2025 to $19.1 billion in 2034.
In this wave, twin screw extrusion technology, with its excellent mixing performance and formula flexibility, is becoming a key equipment for addressing plastic pollution and promoting circular economy.
1. Industry Wave: Definitive Growth in an Uncertain Era
The current global manufacturing industry is facing dual challenges of trade policy fluctuations and supply chain restructuring. The potential shift towards the US 2025 tariff framework has triggered significant volatility risks in the global market.
In this context, the plastic twin screw extruder market has shown remarkable resilience. According to QYResearch research, the global market size of plastic twin screw extruders has reached a considerable level by 2024.
It is expected that this market will continue to expand by 2031. What is particularly noteworthy is that China holds an important share in the global market, and it is expected that the compound growth rate of the Chinese market will remain strong in the next six years.
The driving force of the market has undergone a fundamental transformation. The Global Market Institute (GMI) points out that the continuous strengthening of environmental regulations and the transformation towards green production are driving the industry towards developing extruders that are energy-efficient, compatible with recycled or biobased materials.
This trend is particularly evident in the fields of construction and packaging, where sustainable materials and processes have become key differentiating competitive factors.
2. Technological Frontier: Redefining the Boundary between Recycling and Mixing
In August 2025, a study by the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands opened up a Xintiandi for twin screw extrusion technology. The university uses a twin screw extruder to study the mechanical chemical conversion process of mixed plastic waste.
The key breakthrough of this research lies in the efficient utilization of catalysts. The traditional pyrolysis process has high energy consumption and limited product purity, but a research team from Utrecht University has found that with the excellent mixing performance of a twin screw extruder, the catalyst can be uniformly dispersed throughout the melt.
We have reason to believe that by reducing the reaction temperature and precisely controlling the chemical recovery process, not only can purer products be obtained, but it is also possible to restructure the chemical recovery process and achieve energy conservation and consumption reduction, "explained Dr. Ina Vollmer, who led the project.
This technological breakthrough means that in the future, twin screw extruders will not only be able to complete physical mixing, but also directly participate in chemical reactions, achieving high-quality chemical recycling of plastic waste.
3. Core advantage: Triple innovation of Colowe twin screw extruder
Since its establishment in 2018, Nanjing Kelongwell Chemical Machinery Co., Ltd. has focused on the research and manufacturing of twin screw extrusion technology. The company is located in Jiangning Development Zone, Nanjing, with a total factory area of over 7000 square meters.
High torque design provides powerful power. The twin screw extruder series from COLOWE adopts an optimized transmission box structure, achieving a significant increase in specific torque. Taking the KLWE-65D model as an example, its torque level reaches 10.3, the screw speed can reach 900rpm, and the typical operating capacity is 450-750kg/h.
A higher specific torque means that higher output can be achieved economically and efficiently when processing products with high torque requirements. At the same time, due to the high filling rate of the processing section, the mixing quality is also better.
Modular design enables one machine to be used for multiple purposes. The COLOWE twin screw extruder adopts a modular screw cylinder structure design. By adjusting the screw combination and cylinder position, multiple materials can be perfectly produced on the same equipment.
This design not only saves equipment investment costs, but also improves equipment utilization, providing customers with the best cost-effective solution.
Intelligent control system ensures stable production. COLOWE provides high-precision control systems, including panel control, HMI human-machine interface control, and industrial computer control systems. These systems are capable of real-time monitoring of device performance, predictive maintenance, and high-end process monitoring.
4. Efficiency Analysis: How to Achieve a Balance between Energy Efficiency and Performance
The design philosophy of the COLOWE twin screw extruder is to improve product quality while increasing output. The company's newly designed twin screw mixing equipment has established a new industry standard through optimized design of the transmission box structure.
Compared with traditional domestic twin screw extruders, these devices can increase production by more than 15%. What is even more impressive is that due to the increase in feeding amount, the melt temperature of the material actually decreases, which effectively prevents material overheating and degradation, and improves the quality of the final product.
COLOWE's high-speed and high torque twin screw extruder can reach a maximum speed of 900rpm, far exceeding the limit of traditional extruders with a maximum speed of 600rpm. Higher screw speed combined with reasonable screw combination design can significantly improve product quality while ensuring sufficient plasticization and mixing dispersion.
Special channel design reduces dead corners. The COLOWE twin screw extruder adopts a special head flow channel design to avoid dead corners in the flow channel, allowing materials to pass smoothly. The design of the quick opening hinge joint facilitates users to quickly open and clean the machine head.
5. Application Expansion: Full field coverage from traditional blending to green innovation
The application fields of twin screw extruders are rapidly expanding. COLOWE equipment has been successfully applied in various innovative production scenarios:
In the field of functional masterbatch preparation, twin screw extruders can accurately control the dispersion of additives, ensuring the stable performance of functional effects. For filling and blending modification, the excellent mixing performance of the equipment ensures uniform bonding between the filler and the matrix resin.
For enhanced modifications (such as fiberglass, carbon fiber, glass microspheres, etc.), the COLOWE twin screw extruder can achieve appropriate fiber fracture and uniform distribution, while maintaining good processability while enhancing the mechanical properties of the material.
The processing of environmentally friendly materials is one of the fastest-growing application areas in recent years. Whether it is PVC&CPVC extrusion granulation or biodegradable material granulation, twin screw extruders can provide stable and efficient solutions.
During the process of reaction devolatilization extrusion granulation, the powerful devolatilization ability of the twin screw extruder can effectively remove small molecule volatiles and improve product quality.
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At the K 2025 exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany, a twin screw extruder equipped with an intelligent monitoring system became the focus, with sensors continuously monitoring gearbox vibration and oil condition, and a predictive maintenance system calculating the next maintenance time.
Far away in Nanjing, engineers from COLOWE are debugging a KLWE-95D device that is about to be sent to Southeast Asia. This twin screw extruder granulator is not only capable of processing conventional plastics, but also specifically optimized for processing recycled materials and biobased materials.
Market data shows that by 2031, China's share of the global plastic twin screw extruder market will further expand. In this growth, manufacturers like COLOWE who can provide cost-effective and environmentally friendly solutions will become ideal guides for international customers to enter this field.
