Talk:Plastic recycling

A research paper to be incorporated

Kelsey Papst has released the following material for use under the GFDL: Plastic, although recycled less than paper and even glass and metal, has had a very large growth since its recycling process was introduced in the late 1980’s (AF&PA; Beck 2). In 2001, 1.6 million pounds of plastic was recycled, an increase in 580% since 1990 (Beck 2). However, in 1999, plastic only made up about 4% of packaging recycled with 1.1 million pounds of plastic packaging recovered (AFPA). The percent of plastic packaging recycled is actually higher than the total amount of plastics recycled in 1999, 9.7% vs. 5.6% respectively (Recycling in Ohio). In 1999, the amount of municipal solid waste created by plastics was 11.2 million tons. Obviously, plastic still has a long way to go in fulfilling its recycling potential. Different types of plastic are recycled differently. PET (polyethylene terephthalate) makes up 53% of recycled plastic, while HDPE (high-density polyethylene) makes up 47% (Beck 3). These materials are recycled 30-40% of the time, and are usually beverage bottles, jugs, and some bags (Recycling in Ohio). PET usually goes on to create fiber/carpet, and HDPE usually creates new bottles, although thick and not for food containers (Beck 10-11). Their demand is continually stronger and could certainly stand to be recycled more (11). LDPE (low-density polyethylene) is the most common packaging plastic (Plastics: Waste Management 49; Plastics 17) and is recycled the most after PET and HDPE (although exceptionally less). LDPE is plastic film and is most commonly seen (and recycled) as grocery bags. It is recycled less because of the high contamination rate and processed less because of this and its difficulty in separating from other plastics (Plastics 17-18). After recycling, it usually becomes dark trash bags (18) or a wood-polymer lumber (FBF). There are several different processes for the recycling of plastic, but the two most commonly used for LDPE are reprocessing and burning. In reprocessing, the polyethylene is sorted, shredded and ground into “fluff,” heated to melt it, and mixed to make other products (Baird 529; FBF). Burning, also called “energy recycling” or “waste-to-energy” uses incineration to create energy to be used elsewhere; this also decreases the volume of municipal solid waste (plastics’ biggest waste problem) by up to 90% (Waste-to-Energy). There are no proven environmental damages from these recycling processes, and actually, recycling plastic has a major advantage. Plastic is primarily made from oil, a limited resource, and oil has a high value of energy stored in it. Plastic recycling is more uncommon for probably two reasons: one, there is an opposition to burning plastic because of a fear of dioxin and furan formation (which is actually more possible in the creation of virgin plastic), and two, plastic is fairly expensive to recycle (Baird 528). Unfortunately, the page listing references has been lost. Many of the articles cited were found using Yahoo web search; the others are Environmental Chemistry, by Colin Baird, and several papers found using Scifinder Scholar at UCSD.

Expansion request

Not very much is said about how plastic is successfully recycled, or what it is recycled into. The current version makes it sound like it is too hard to do at all. -- Beland 20:08, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

This section needs a lot more information. It has very outdated information on current techniques. It should also include more information on what more countries around the world are doing about recycling plastic.

Removed unsourced assertion about cost of transporting plastic waste.

In accordance with WP:CITE, I reverted the edit [1] by Nsoltani that stated "However the cost of transporting plastic waste is equal or greater than the gain of it. 250% less carbon dioxide does not account the emission by transportation and the emission from the machines used to recycle plastic" because it did not have a source cited. If a source for this assertion could be cited, it can go back in the article. 70.133.83.58 17:35, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Oops, forgot to log in for that. PenguiN42 17:38, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Added source, the actual episode does cite its sources if anyone can bother writing them all. Nsoltani 19:50, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

UK

The section about the UK is simply not true. Almost every council provides either Kerbside collection or plastic bottle banks, and there is not always any idea of the source. "It all being sent to China" therefore can't be verified.

One problem, however, is the different types of plastic, many councils will not accept recyclable food containers to avoid confusuion. Almost all Supermarkets have plastic bag recycling points. Mojo 10:56, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, that section about the UK is incredibly confusing. And there are no citations for the stuff about China, which just logically I find ridiculous. The UK has the means to send all its recyclables to China? Shouldn't that section be removed or rewritten? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.74.141.22 (talk) 22:01, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Entropy and Enthalpy

I think the thermodynamics should be moved. I think it should be removed or at least moved to a later point in the article. Better to start out with some more general statements. If it must stay, I would like to see it expanded and referenced. neffk (talk) 05:52, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Numbering system

It seems very odd, and not good, that of the numbering system of 7 numbers, only numbers 1 and 2 are mentioned in this article. All the numbers should be mentioned, and what they are. Badagnani (talk) 19:01, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately just because there is a recycling symbol with a number, doesn't mean that it can be recycled. PETE (1) bottles, HDPE (2) bottles, and stretchy plastics (like bags and wraps, often LDPE (4), or HDPE) are most commonly recycled. I found an article on PVC (3) recycling, which i added to the 'see also' section. Recently i found a website where you can mail in styrofoam, or E(xpanded)PS (6). There are other types of PS and HDPE containers that cannot be recycled because of how it is chemically structured, even though they are technically the same 'type' of plastic. Also a site explaining why no one recycles PP (5) with a link at the bottom, How to Recycle Different Types of Plastics, which is also informative. (7) is just a catch-all. (more on the resin id codes) Now if i only could have written that all into the article instead...Quickmythril (talk) 22:58, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Merge Proposal

Come to think of it, PVC recycling and Recycling of PET Bottles should both probably be merged into this article.Quickmythril (talk) 23:07, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

I believe that each of the 7 codes should have a page describing the pros and cons of recycling them. So rather than merge pages we should probably work on expanding the section with this page referencing the others. Neillawrence (talk) 20:15, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

i agree-anne —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.99.135.227 (talk) 19:09, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

How do they reprocess the plastic?

How do they regrind the plastic back into a usable form? Etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.214.11.170 (talk) 09:55, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

PICs

The article says Manufacturers of plastic food packaging and containers can voluntarily mark their products with the PIC, but according to Holt Chemestry (Florida edition), some countries/regions require manufacturers to label their products with the appropriate PIC. Also, PICs ca be found on all kinds of stuff, from prescription bottles to sheds, not just food containers. PCHS-NJROTC ^(Messages) 21:24, 2 January 2009 (UTC)