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Plastic recycling is the processing of plastic waste into other products. [1] [2] [3] Recycling can reduce dependence on landfills, conserve resources and protect the environment from plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. [4] [5] [6] Recycling rates lag behind those of other recoverable materials, such as aluminium, glass and paper.
Chemical recycling involves breaking down the plastic into its monomers which can be used as building blocks for new materials. Because of the use of more energy for the chemical reactions to take place, chemical recycling produces more emissions than mechanical recycling. [17] This process is also known as "Tertiary" or "Advanced" recycling.
Recycling codes on products. Recycling codes are used to identify the materials out of which the item is made, to facilitate easier recycling process.The presence on an item of a recycling code, a chasing arrows logo, or a resin code, is not an automatic indicator that a material is recyclable; it is an explanation of what the item is made of.
Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastic and reprocessing the material into useful products, sometimes completely different in form from their original state. For instance, this could mean melting down soft drink bottles and then casting them as plastic chairs and tables. [ 83 ]
If present, a numeric recycling code may provide clues about an item's composition. Identification of plastic components of a collection is extremely important, because some plastics may release a harmful toxin or gas that can damage nearby objects. A preservation plan can be established to slow down the effects and protect a collection. [3] [4]
Resource recovery can be enabled by changes in government policy and regulation, circular economy infrastructure such as improved 'binfrastructure' to promote source separation and waste collection, reuse and recycling, [5] innovative circular business models, [6] and valuing materials and products in terms of their economic but also their social and environmental costs and benefits. [7]
Waste valorization, beneficial reuse, beneficial use, value recovery or waste reclamation [61] is the process of waste products or residues from an economic process being valorized (given economic value), by reuse or recycling in order to create economically useful materials.
All products and services have environmental impacts, from the extraction of raw materials for production to manufacture, distribution, use and disposal. Following the waste hierarchy will generally lead to the most resource-efficient and environmentally sound choice but in some cases refining decisions within the hierarchy or departing from it can lead to better environmental outcomes.