Plastic is a common material that is found in a lot of products used around the house. A number of things that we buy are often packaged in plastic. The use of plastic bottles as containers is very common. This is because these containers do not break easily as they are strong and safe. Another advantage is that the amount of plastic required to manufacture each bottle is very small.
Why recycle plastic:
The need to recycle plastic is eminent because modern plastics can trace their origins back to chemical by products of the oil-refining process and reserves of crude oil are dwindling. Recycled plastic reduces the demand on this crucial natural resource.� Recycling plastic will also help to reduce the amount of waste material in land fills. Plastics are not biodegradable and do not break down easily. In the average household plastic amounts for 11% of the total household waste and 40% of this are plastic bottles.
Types of plastic:
There are various types of plastics that a consumer may come across. Plastics are made out of different polymers and each polymer can be identified by its own unique number. Some of the most common plastics include Polyethylene Terephthalate which is used for soft drink bottless, and the opaque High Density Polyethylene for milk, juice and detergent containers. The type of plastic is usually identified by a symbol or logo on the bottle accompanied by a number. The resin identification code on a plastic bottle is crucial for the process of separating plastics before the actual recycling process. Plastics that fall in the 1, 2 and 6 categories are the most often recycled in the US.
The most popular forms of plastics to be recycled are PET and PVC. Plastic is commonly recycled in the PET bottle form. The new plastic obtained can be used to manufacture bottles or containers for soft drinks, detergents, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals etc.
Recycling a PET bottle:
The first step in recycling PET plastic bottles is to identify and sort them out from the collection of plastics that come for recycling. Once done the bottles are separated by color. Once sorted the bottles are crushed into bales and sold to companies that recycle the plastic. These companies will process these bales of plastic further by shredding them into small fragments. Impurities such as paper is removed from these small fragments by a process of automated separation using magnets, the resulting product arrived at is PET flakes. These flakes can be used to make new bottles or other plastic products.
Improvements and the plastic recycling scenario today:
Recycling of plastics is constantly improving. The world over approximately 1.5 tons of plastic is recycled every year and this figure is expected to be over one million tons by 2010.� The amount of energy saved by recycling one plastic bottle can be used to power a 60W light bulb for 6 hours. By using recycled plastic companies contribute to reducing the amount of energy and new raw materials that go into plastic production. This in turn reduces the amount of green house gas emissions.
...Read more
Close
