Stages of Recycling Plastic

Plastic recyclers sort colors and types of plastic.plastic image by valpictures from Fotolia.com

Recycling plastic is labor intensive and costly and the process degrades plastic material, making it difficult to reuse. Researchers across the globe are struggling to solve this problem, and Manufacturing.net reports that a recent IBM/Stanford recycling breakthrough may revolutionize plastic recycling by 2015. Until then, the process remains difficult and only around 5% of plastic waste in the US is recycled, according to PackagingToday.com.

Sorting Plastic

Plastic arrives at a recycling center and is typically hand sorted by type and color, according to PackagingToday.com. This is a simple process with containers or bottles, but toys and other plastic items that are manufactured with several different colors and types of plastic are exceedingly difficult to disassemble and recycle. Most items that require too much disassembly time are sent to landfills. Sorted bottles are typically crushed to remove air before being sent to the baler.

Plastic of the same type and color is machine compressed in mechanical balers and formed into bales of plastic. If the plastic was not compressed, the amount of loose plastic needed for manufacturing purposes would fill several trucks. The plastic bales are then stored and resold to manufacturers who desire the recycled plastic material to make plastic construction materials, carpets, fleece clothing or other items that are ably manufactured out of recycled plastic.

When plastic bales arrive at the manufacturing company or at a middleman who handles plastic distribution, they are ground into fine flakes or powder. This substance is then melted and reformed into new marketable goods. According to Manufacturing.net, limits in plastic recycling mean that a beverage bottle cannot be turned back into a beverage bottle since the plastic degrades as it is recycled. Many goods made of recycled plastic end up in landfills once they are no longer serviceable.