Plastic recycling, like metal recycling is the recovery of scrap plastic and repurposing it into useful products. But, unlike metal, plastic recycling is of low density as well as low value. Which means the whole process is less lucrative and attractive.
In the UK we use over 5 million tonnes of plastic each year, an estimated 29% of it is currently being recovered or recycled. Nearly all types of plastics can be recycled, however the extent to which they are recycled depends upon technical, economic and logistic factors.
There are 6 key stages for plastic recycling in London:
- Collection of plastics
First, the waste plastic needs to be collected. This can be via recycling centres, council recycling centres and office plastic recycling points. We collect plastics from home, offices and building sites.
- Sorting of different types
The recycling process kicks off with the sorting of the different plastic items by their resin content and colour. The recycling machine can sort the scrap plastic by symbols at the bottom of the plastics.
- Shredding
Once the types of plastics have been sorted they can then be cut into tiny chunks or pieces. Plastic bottles and containers are ground and cut into pieces or flakes, ready for the next stage in the process.
- Cleaning the pieces
The chunks and pieces of plastic are then washed to remove the remaining contamination. Once this process is complete, the clean flakes are passed through specialised equipment to further separate the different plastic resin types. The plastic flakes are then put through moderate heat to dry them.
- Melting them down
At this stage the chunks and pieces of plastic are melted down and moulded into a new shape or they are melted down and processed into granules.
- Making of pellets
Finally, the plastic pieces are then compressed into tiny pellets known as nurdles. Now the plastic pellets are ready for reuse or be redesigned into new plastic products.