The Need for Plastic Recycling- An Overview

1. The Need for Plastic Recycling- An Overview Since recycling is one of the best waste management options we have, plastic scrap recycling helps in reprocessing materials from old plastic products to create entirely new products. It helps in recovering waste/scrap plastic and prevents excess deposition of scrap plastic into the oceans thus preventing plastic pollution. Why recycle plastic? Plastic is one of the most durable and inexpensive materials readily available for making use of. It can easily be molded into various shapes and forms thus making it apt for manufacturing various functional plastic products. This has resulted in the increased and excessive use of virgin plastic material. By recycling old plastic products, the need to use virgin plastic material is greatly reduced thus decreasing plastic pollution considerably. The production and use of plastic has increased in the last few decades. Around 100 million tons of plastic is manufactured every year on a global scale. Moreover, 200 billion pounds of fresh plastic material is extruded into millions of different products and packaging. So, recycling calls for a plastic scrap buyer to purchase scrap material, reuse and recycle it into new products. This whole process has great significance in controlling the ecological balance of the environment we live in. It is this need for recycling that has led to the current worldwide plastic recycling industry being vast in scope. Which plastics are recyclable? With vast scope come great opportunities and challenges. Although there is an abundance of plastic material, not all forms of plastic can be recycled. So, plastic waste buyers only choose certain kind of plastic materials to send for the process of recycling. Mentioned below are the different kinds of plastic materials. PS (Polystyrene) - Finds application commonly in foam cups used to serve hot drinks, disposable plastic cutlery, food containers and yogurt. PP (Polypropylene) –Finds application in the manufacturing of lunch boxes, take away food containers and ice cream cups. LDPE (Low density Polyethylene) –Finds application in the making of garbage bins and bags. PVC (Plasticized Polyvinyl chloride/polyvinyl chloride) –Used in making cordial juice bottles and cold drink bottles. HDPE (High-density polyethylene) –Used in manufacturing shampoo bottles and milk bottles.

2. PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) –Used to manufacture storage bottles for fruit juice or other cold beverages. Out of all 6 of these materials, only PET, HDPE and PVC plastic products are known to be recyclable and are recycled under curbside recycling programs. Materials such as PS, PP and LDPE cannot be recycled since such materials get stuck in sorting machines and cause the equipment to breakdown or stop. Even lids and bottle caps cannot be recycled for the same reason. Should recycling of plastic products be done? Well, this is a question that arises from the economic feasibility of recycling plastic products. Although some recycling companies may be skeptical in doing so, there are also noble entities such as GPS recycle that consider shouldering this responsibility as a major part of the recycling spectrum. It is indispensable to recycle plastic so as to save the environment while also producing products such as plastic bottles and carry bags among others. So, go green and recycle plastic.