Breakthroughs in Plastic Recycling

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), only about 10% of the plastic waste created yearly on a global basis is recycled. (About 15% of such waste is recycled in the U.S., according to some estimates.) This is largely due to the difficulty in breaking polymers down, as well as the logistical challenges in gathering discarded plastics. Since roughly 400 million tons of plastic is produced per year (about one-half of it for single-use items such as food packaging and small bags given to customers in retail stores), the problem is staggering. Literally hundreds of billions of plastic drink bottles and shopping bags are being thrown away yearly, and that doesn’t count larger plastic items such as toys and automobile components.

Traditional plastic recycling is a lengthy process that often includes the tasks of separating, crushing, grinding, washing, drying, regranulating, melting and compounding. The process degrades the plastic’s quality and over time, multiple recyclings render the material unusable. An advancement is a chemical-based recycling method that uses heat, chemical reactions or a combination thereof to break down used plastic into raw materials such as oil. Those materials can then be used to create new plastic, fuel or other chemicals.

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