Re-Cycled Plastics - A Second Life

Plastics re-cycling takes place on a significant scale in the UK and there is considerable research conducted to discover the most efficient ways to recycle. Raw materials have a high value and are a precious resource. To conserve both money and the environment the industry makes every effort to recover as much as possible.

Exact figures are hard to obtain but a survey conducted in 1981 showed that less that 1% of plastics processed is thrown away at the manufacturing stage. Further downstream, many products that have completed a full service life are fed back into the system to embark upon a second life-cycle.

The following are just a few examples:

• Polyethylene film – It is estimated that around 50,000 tonnes of polyethylene film, about 10% of total UK production, are recovered every year to provide useful and serviceable goods such as certain types of builders’ sheeting and black refuse bags, the majority of which are made from recycled material.
• Polypropylene – At least 25,000 tonnes of polypropylene are recycled annually, equivalent to about 7% of total UK production. More than 70% of this material has had a full service life with major sources being bottle crates and car battery boxes. The recycled material is used in high quality applications such as injection mouldings and extruded drainage pipes.
• Polystyrene – Recycling of polystyrene clothes hangers collected from department stores is an excellent example of a successful commercial venture, as is a similar system based on the recovery of used cassette cases taken from photographic laboratories. Typical applications include injection moulded products, including recycled versions of the original article or quite different products such as flower pots.

Source: British Plastics Foundation