Method and device for recycling plastics

A method for recycling and processing plastics, comprising:

• in a plurality of successive process steps:
• 1.1. melting a thermoplastic polymer using a melting extruder to provide a plastic melt;
• 1.2. performing a first filtering of the plastic melt under a pressure of more than an atmospheric pressure;
• 1.3. degassing during a second filtering of the plastic melt under a vacuum atmosphere, wherein degassing during the second filtering includes:
• passing the plastic melt output from the first filtering through a degassing unit to remove solid foreign particles and volatile gases from the plastic melt in a single process step, and
• 1.4. discharging the plastic melt for final processing;
• wherein the degassing unit includes:
• a housing defining a melt inlet, a melt outlet, and a vacuum chamber disposed between the melt inlet and the melt outlet;
• and
• a filter element arranged within the vacuum chamber, the filter element having a hollow, elongated interior defining a pressure chamber connected to the melt inlet;
• wherein the filter element defines an inlet surface and an outlet surface, the outlet surface facing an interior of the vacuum chamber;
• and
• wherein the step of passing the plastic melt through the degassing unit includes:
• feeding the plastic melt through the inlet surface to the outlet surface to remove the solid foreign particles, and exposing the plastic melt to a vacuum of the vacuum chamber to remove the volatile gases.