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What is Plastic Recycling
Plastic recycling is the process of reprocessing plastic that already has been used before and giving it some new reusable form. The steps followed in the plastic recycling are enumerated below :-
Collecting recyclable plastic waste,.
Categorizing the recyclable plastic waste,.
Processing the categorized plastic waste, accordingly into various raw materials, and.
Manufacturing of new products from these raw materials..
Some of the products formed by the various plastic recycling process are tables, lumber, stationery items and many more durable products.
Factors contributing to the Plastic Pollution
While manufacturing Plastic :- In the process of manufacturing plastics, a large amount of natural resources are used. The natural resources consumed include fossil fuels, water, land etc. This results in the production of harmful waste and emissions as byproducts. Some health and environment hazards chemicals are also used in the production of the plastics.
After the usage of Plastics :- Generally plastics are non-degradable and hence they take a long time to beak down. The disposal of plastic products has been contributing to the hazardous pollution quite regularly.
Hindrances in Plastic Recycling
The chemical composition of plastic, makes it one of the difficult items to be recycled. Plastics have low entropy, because of which it is arduous to mix with the other polymers and/or chemicals. The vast use of dyes and other additives in the plastics, makes them very hard to reprocess. The process of removing additives from plastic is very costly and it has the risk of destroying the plastic completely.
Types of Plastic Recycling
Process Scrap Plastic Recycling :- This method of plastic recycling is applied to the left over products from the plastic manufacturing process. These left over products or polymers are comparatively unpolluted and the process of recycling them is simple and cost-effective as well.
Post-use Plastic Recycling :- Processing household plastic waste is one of the biggest challenge. Plastic products that have been used and thrown away, are recycled by the post-use plastic recycling process.
Mechanical Plastic Recycling:- This method of plastic recycling includes various processes like shredding, melting etc., of the plastic waste. First the plastics are classified according to their polymer type. Afterwards the plastic should have to melted or made into a new shape. Apart from this, the plastic waste is first shredded, then melted and then processed into granules.
Feedstock or Chemical Plastic Recycling :- This method of plastic recycling, involves the breaking down of polymers, which can then be used in various industries. The feedstock plastic recycling process is flexible and more forbearing to the plastic additives, as compared to the mechanical plastic recycling. This is the most costly method of plastic recycling.
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