How is Plastic Recycled? The Plastic Recycling Process Steps

So far at TJC Transport, we have discussed the recycling process of paper, aluminium and glass, which means last but by no means least, we need to share with you the recycling plastic process.

When it comes to the recycling of plastic process, there is so much we don’t know and that we can learn about. Read on to find out about plastic recycling.
 

How is Plastic Recycled Step by Step

There are a lot of stages that many of us don’t know about when it comes to the recycling process of plastic and many of us question what happens when you recycle plastic bottles. So here is the process as to how plastic bottles can be recycled.

Once you have gone through the process of recycling a plastic bottle – quite simply, putting the bottle in the recycling bin – there is a long process that the used recycled materials go through to get recycled.

The bottle recycling is collected and taken to a Materials Recovery Facility, which assists in the waste management, sorting through what can and cannot be recycled while also sorting through the different types of plastic that need to go through separate recycling processes. Generally machines are used to separate the plastic, as they can detect what kind of plastic the material is through the polymer’s signature on the bottle.

The next stage in the recycling of plastic bottles, is for the bottles to go through a shredder or a granulator to make the plastic smaller and easier to transport. Once the plastic has been shredded and separated, the plastic is then washed to ensure there is no contamination and then dried.

All of the dried plastic then gets melted down into plastic pellets. These pellets get sent around to companies who need the plastic pellets to be able to create their plastic products, such as bottles or containers.

Once the plastic pellets have been sent and sold to the companies, they get melted down into the plastic product ready to be used once again.
 

What Types of Plastic Can be Recycled?

While there are as many as 50 different types of plastic, the main type of plastics that gets recycled are:
• HDPE – These are often milk and detergent bottles.
• PVC – Generally, this type of plastic is used for large juice bottles, although it is being used less nowadays.
• PET – Fizzy drinks and juice are stored in bottles made of this type of plastic.
• PP – Bottles storing different sauces such as ketchup and mayonnaise are made of PP plastic.
 

How Does Plastic Recycling Help the Environment?

The Earth’s resources quickly get used up and it’s getting to a point where plastic pollution has been getting out of hand, which is why rules have been put in place to help reduce the amount of waste, while assisting to encourage people to reduce reuse recycle.

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