Plastic Recycling Company FAQ
Q: How much plastic is recycled?
A: The recycling of plastics continued
to grow in 1997. More than 1.3 billion pounds of post-consumer plastics
packaging were recycled in the United States.
- 649 million pounds of PET bottles were recycled in 1997-an
increase of more than 18 million pounds compared to 1996!
- HDPE bottle recycling increased 7 percent in
1997 to 704 million pounds.2
- All plastic bottles were recycled at a rate of 24 percent in
1997.2
- 36 percent of plastic soft drink bottles were
recycled in 1997.2
Q: How does plastic recycling work?
A: Successful recovery of plastic -- like any
material -- requires an infrastructure that can get plastics from
the consumer and back into use as new products. The plastics recycling
infrastructure has four parts:
Collection-Rather than being thrown away, plastics (primarily PETand
HDPE) are collected for recycling. Curbside collection with other
materials and drop-off at recycling centers are common plastics
collection methods.
Handling-Plastics from collection programs are sorted to increase
their value and compacted to reduce shipping costs.
Reclamation-In conventional recycling, sorted plastics are chopped,
washed and converted into flakes or pellets that are then processed
into new products. Advanced recycling technologies (see "What
are advanced recycling technologies ?") can take mixed plastics
back to their original building blocks (monomers or petroleum feedstocks).
These can then be recycled into a number of different products,
including new plastics.
End-use-Reclaimed plastic pellets or flakes-or petroleum feedstocks-are
used to manufacture new products.
Q: How many communities collect plastic for recycling?
A: Following an extensive nationwide survey in 1997, the American
Plastics Council (APC) estimated that roughly one-half of all U.S.
communities -- nearly 19,400 -- are collecting plastics for recycling,
primarily PET and HDPE. Roughly 7,400 communities collect plastics
at the curb, and approximately 12,000 communities collect plastics
through drop-off centers. In addition, thousands of grocery stores
in the United States accept plastic bags for recycling into new
trash can liners and other products. The chart below shows how new
community collection programs have increased in past years.3,4
Q: Can some plastics from durable goods be recycled?
A: Yes. A primary challenge is collecting post-consumer plastics
from durable goods in quantities of sufficient quality that make
recycycing cost-effective.
The Vehicle Recycling Partnership (VRP), a consortium formed by
General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, has opened a joint research center
called the Vehicle Recycling Development Center (VRDC) to develop
automotive recycling technology. The VRP has a collaborative agreement
with APC to develop technology to recover and recycle plastics from
scrapped vehicles' bumpers, instrument panels, seats and interior
trim.
At wTe Corporation, a research and development facility in Dorchester,
Mass., APC conducted research to improve recovery of plastics from
durable products. The facility was designed to take plastic items
with foreign material contamination, such as metals or fabric coverings,
and generate a clean plastic stream.
MBA Polymers, Richmond, CA, includes an "advanced plastics
recycling line" that is developing and demonstrating new technologies
for durables recycling. These include technology for plastics identification
and sorting, and improving the quality and reducing the costs of
recovering plastics from durable goods. Currently, APC and others
are conducting research to evaluate recovery of telephones, automotive
parts, computer housings, refrigerator doors and cabinet liners.
Q: How many plastics recyclers are there?
A: A 1998 study identified 1,792 businesses that handle and/or
reclaim (sort, process and/or produce) post-consumer plastics. Information
about these businesses has been compiled into a special handlers/
reclaimers database. Community recycling representatives can use
the database to locate potential markets for their collected materials
by calling APC's plastics information line at 1-800-2-HELP-90.5
Q: Why is sorting so important in plastic recycling?
A: There are different types of plastics, just
as there are different types of metal, paper and glass. Steel and
aluminum have to be separated before recycling, different colors
of glass must be sorted and white office paper must be separated
from newspapers and paperboard boxes. Each of the six common packaging
plastics has performance characteristics that make it best suited
for specific applications (see "Why do we need different kinds
of plastics?"). Purchasers of recycled resins want to be sure
that these properties are retained, so handlers sort plastics by
resin type to command the highest market value.
Q: What can I recycle?
A: Since all community-recycling programs are basically independent
of one another , what you can recycle depends on where you live.
To find out what plastics recycling opportunities are available
in your area, check with your county or town department of public
works, look under "Recycling" in the Yellow pages, or
contact your local hauler. The most common plastic resins collected
at curbside are PET and HDPE, often used in soft drink bottles and
milk, juice and water containers respectively. Not all types of
plastics are generally recycled, and recycling facilities may not
be available in some areas.
Q: What kinds of products are made with recycled plastics?
A: The variety of products made with recycled plastics is growing.
Here are just a few examples:
Recycled PET can be used in producing deli and bakery trays, carpets,
clothing and textiles.
Recycled HDPE can become bottles for laundry produ cts, recycling
bins, agricultural pipe, bags, motor oil bottles, decking and marine
pilings.
Recycled vinyl can become playground equipment, film and airbubble
cushioning.
Recycled LDPE can be used to manufacture bags, shrink film and
compost bins.
Recycled PP can be used in automobile parts, carpets, battery casings,
textiles, industrial fibers and films used for packaging products
such as candy.
Recycled PS can be used in products including office accessories,
video cassettes and cases.To help public and private sector buyers
identify products made with recycled plastic, APC publishes "The
Recycled Plastic Products Source Book" that lists more than
1,400 products.APC also publishes a consumer's guide to recycled
products. "Shop Recycled!" lists more than 240 commonly
used consumer items that are either made from or packaged with recycled
plastics. Single copies of both guides can be obtained at no charge
by calling APC's plastics information line at 1-800-2-HELP-90, or
visit the Shop Recycled Mall at our website, www.plastics.org. 6
Q: Can plastic be recycled back into food contact applications?
A: Today, some recycled plastics are used in food and beverage
containers. Technical and economic barriers currently limit widespread
use of recycled plastic packaging in direct contact with food.
Q: What are advanced recycling technologies?
A: The term advanced recycling describes a family
of plastics recycling processes that yield a variety of versatile
end products. Sometimes the term feedstock recycling or chemical
recycling is used. These end products can be the building blocks
from which plastics are made. By unlinking or unzipping plastics
(polymers) to their original molecular components, recyclers can
produce monomers or a petroleum product that can be made into monomers
(the basic units from which plastics are made) or a number of other
petroleum-based products. These developmental processes signal a
significant technical breakthrough in plastics recycling technology
because the products are identical to virgin feedstocks and monomers
used to produce new plastics. Advanced recycling technologies are
being researched to augment existing conventional mechanical systems
as part of an integrated approach. They are designed to increase
the volume of post-consumer plastics diverted from the waste stream
and expand the variety of plastics that are recycled into new and
useful products.7
Q: What resources are available to help increase sustainable recycling?
A: Through organizations such as APC, the plastics industry is
developing technologies to collect, sort and reclaim plastics more
economically, broadening its focus to include durable products and
commercial streams, researching new applications and end-markets
for recycled plastics, and promoting existing markets through publications
such as "The Recycled Plastic Products Source Book" and
"Shop Recycled!" The American Plastics Council offers
the following services and resources:
Toll-Free Information Line -- Community officials and recyclers
can get the technical information they need by calling 1-800-2-HELP-90.
Information Specialists can access APC's databases listing more
than 1,700 plastics handlers and reclaimers to match supply with
demand for post-consumer plastics.
Technical Research Programs -- The state of the art in plastics
recycling is constantly evolving. APC works to hasten this evolution,
pursuing a wide range of technical solutions that can add greater
automation and operating efficiency to each step of the plastics
recycling infrastructure, from collection to end-markets. The findings
from these research programs have resulted in a series of technical
manuals to help advance plastics recycling across the country.
How to Collect Plastics for Recycling -- A comprehensive technical
manual to assist recycling professionals in improving the efficiency
of existing collection efforts or designing programs from the outset.
An accompanying video (23-minutes) shows detailed equipment configuration
and collection strategies tested in APC's Model City demonstrations.
Sorting Plastic Bottles for Recycling -- A companion to "How
to Collect Plastics for Recycling." This guide assists Materials
Recovery Facility (MRF) operators in improving the efficiency of
sorting and recovering plastic containers collected from the residential
and commercial recyclables streams.
How Can You Get More of These Into This? -- A motivational tool
kit designed to assist recyclers in the development and execution
of a public service campaign; includes a how-to booklet, trade press
advertisements, a series of broadcast-ready radio public service
announcements and ready-to-print feature stories for newspapers.
(produced jointly with the Association of Postconsumer Plastics
Recyclers.)
Stretch Wrap Recycling: A How-To Guide -- A guide that takes recyclers
step-by-step through the process of design and implementation of
a stretch wrap recovery program.
Waste Reduction Strategies for Rural Communities -- A report that
provides rural waste management officials with information on effcient
waste management, jointly produced by APC and the Tennessee valley
Authority (TVA).
Educational Assistance --Extensive research has determined the
best means of ensuring proper consumer participation in recycling
programs and has resulted in two publications available free of
charge from APC: 'Educating your community About Plastics Recycling:
A Do-It-Yourself Kit" and "Perfecting the Plastics Drop-Off."
We also have television public service announcements ready for use
in your community to help boost public participation in plastics
recycling.
General Mill Supply can answer these questions and many more! |
