| Recycling Plastics is Easy |
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| Biophile Team | |||
| Wednesday, 28 March 2007 | |||
 
Recycling plastics is easy First, you should learn what types of plastics can be recycled and only give your collector those types of plastics. Resist the temptation to slip plastics that recyclers don't want into the recycling bin. Plastics have different formulations and should be sorted before they are recycled to make new products. Mixed plastics can be recycled, but they are not as valuable as sorted plastics because the recycled plastic's physical properties, such as strength, may vary with each batch. Once you know what kinds of plastics your recycler wants, you should follow the wash and squash rule - rinse the container and squash it. You may leave the paper labels on the container, but throw away the plastic caps. Plastic caps are usually made from a different type of plastic than the container and cannot be easily recycled. Energy to burn Because plastics are made from fossil fuels, you can think of them as another form of stored energy. Kilogram for kilogram, plastics contain as much energy as petroleum or natural gas, and much more energy than other types of garbage. This makes plastic an ideal fuel for waste-to-energy plants. Waste-to-energy plants burn garbage and use the heat energy released during combustion to make steam or electricity. They turn garbage into useful energy. So, should we burn plastics or recycle them? It depends. Sometimes it takes more energy to make a product from recycled plastics than it does to make it from all-new materials. If that's the case, it makes more sense to burn the plastics at a waste-to-energy plant than to recycle them. Burning plastics can supply an abundant amount of energy, while reducing the cost of waste disposal and saving landfill space. How are plastics recycled? A recycling plant uses seven steps to recycle plastic waste: 1. Inspection Workers inspect the plastic waste for contaminants like rock and glass, and for plastics that the plant cannot recycle. 2. Chopping & Washing The plastic is washed and chopped into flakes. 3. Floatation Tank If mixed plastics are being recycled, they are sorted in a flotation tank, where some types of plastic sink and others float. 4. Drying The plastic flakes are dried in a tumble-dryer. 5. Melting The dried flakes are fed into an extruder, where heat and pressure melt the plastic. Different types of plastics melt at different temperatures. 6. Filtering The molten plastic is forced through a fine screen to remove any contaminants that slipped through the washing process. The molten plastic is then formed into strands. 7. Pelletizing The strands are cooled in water, then chopped into uniform pellets which can be used to make new products. Recycled plastics can be made into many products, including flowerpots, lumber substitutes and carpeting. Decoding Plastics  1 PETEPolyethylene Terephthalate Two-liter beverage bottles, mouthwash bottles, boil-in-bag pouches.  2 HOPEHigh Density Polyethylene Milk jugs, trash bags, detergent bottles.  3 VVinyl (sometimes seen as PVC, for polyvinyl chloride). Cooking oil bottles, packaging around meat.  4 LDPELow Density Polyethylene Grocery bags, produce bags, food wrap, bread bags.  5 PPPolypropylene Yogurt containers, shampoo bottles, straws, margarine tubs, diapers.  6 PSPolystyrene Hot beverage cups, take-home boxes, egg cartons, meat trays.  7 OTHERAll other types of plastics or packaging made from more than one type of plastic.
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