Albania 5 T/H Corn Starch and Pea Fiber Cat Litter Line Enters Factory Assembly

Factory assembly has begun for a 5 t/h biodegradable cat litter production line designed for an Albanian pet-products company developing a plant-based litter range from pea fiber, corn-derived starch ingredients and other suitable botanical components.

The project is deliberately different from a conventional wood pellet line. The customer is selling a consumer pet-care product, so odor control, clumping behavior, dust, granule appearance, absorption and packaging matter as much as mechanical throughput.

The Formula Is Built Around Fiber and Starch Functions

The customer's trial formulations use pea-derived plant fiber as an absorbent structural ingredient, while corn starch or other suitable starch components support binding and clumping characteristics.

A representative development range uses approximately:

• 55–70% prepared plant/pea fiber;
• 20–30% starch-based components;
• 3–8% functional plant or mineral additives;
• smaller amounts of approved deodorizing, color or fragrance ingredients where the SKU requires them.

These are project-development ranges, not a universal cat litter recipe.

Changing starch type, fiber source or additive system changes extrusion/pellet formation and drying behavior, so RICHI is designing the plant for recipe adjustment rather than a single locked formula.

Product Development Includes More Than One Granule

The initial commercial program includes approximately 2–3 mm cylindrical plant litter and a second product around 3 mm for customers preferring a slightly coarser texture.

Natural, lightly scented and selected colored SKUs are being evaluated.

This requires the line to manage both production and product changeover.

Main Production Route

prepared fiber receiving → starch/additive dosing → mixing → moisture conditioning → cat litter forming/pelletizing → drying → cooling → screening → fines management → finished-product storage → retail packing

The drying section is especially important. Plant-based cat litter leaving the forming section contains more moisture than a finished retail product can safely retain.

Drying therefore has to stabilize the product without creating excessive brittleness and fines.

Dust Reduction Starts Before the Packing Machine

A low-dust claim cannot be created only by installing a final screen.

RICHI is addressing dust at several points: controlling raw-material fineness, avoiding unnecessary over-grinding, stabilizing formed litter during drying/cooling, screening loose fines and minimizing damaging drops during conveying.

Suitable clean fines can be managed through a controlled return route when the formulation permits.

The customer also requested multiple retail bag formats. Because plant litter is frequently sold by both weight and volume, packaging equipment will be finalized using actual finished-product bulk density rather than assuming a fixed litre-to-kilogram conversion.

One Line, Several Marketable Products

The commercial advantage of the project is not simply turning pea fiber into pellets.

By adjusting formulation, additives and packaging, the customer can develop several SKUs from the same core production system instead of purchasing a separate factory for every litter type.

RICHI Machinery has therefore reserved separate low-dose ingredient points and flexible packing interfaces.

This is where customized engineering can directly support the customer's economics: the plant is configured to create product variety without duplicating the complete line.

The project targets pea fiber cat litter production line, corn starch cat litter machine, plant based cat litter manufacturing equipment, biodegradable cat litter factory, 5 t/h cat litter production line, clumping plant fiber cat litter machine, and complete cat litter manufacturing plant.

Factory assembly is now focused on the mixing, forming, drying and screening sections before integrated control testing begins.