how is plastic recycled?

[topaz]

How does plastic get recycled?

Specifically, how likely is it that dropping a nonrecyclable plastic container in a plastic recycling bin will cause problems for the recycling process.

This stems from an argument I've been having with my family, some of whom contend that the plastic gets sorted by machine at the plant, and that inappropriate containers are discarded automatically.  I think that only applies to single-stream recycling, and that if you don't know for sure that your community uses single-stream recycling, adding nonrecyclables to a recycling bin may cause contamination farther down the line.  But I don't know for sure.  Maybe I'm the one who's behind the times.

I tried to find out more about this on the intarwebz but was not able to find enough detail to feel confident of the answer.  But I know some of you smart people are more up to date on this stuff than I am.  What's going on here?

Comments

[dbang.livejournal.com]

I eagerly await your readers' advice on this matter as I've wondered too

[randysmith]

Well, I don't have confidence in my answer; it relies on my memory (not good) of a long, rambling, and untargeted conversation with someone "in the business" (he actually trades recyclable streams, but he's part of a company that collects stuff too, as that's the only way to get the streams). But based on that memory ...

Pure plastic (i.e. non-single stream) recycling is indeed sorted at the plant via a complex system that either involves jets of air on falling recycling or floating plastic in a water stream.
However, my sense is that any sorting system will be based on assumptions about the input (i.e. paper in that system would mess it up exceedingly) so that there might be problems with non-recyclable plastic. But I'm not certain about that, and I'm
95% sure that there's some sorting.

If you don't get a authoritative answer, ping me by email (so it gets in my todo queue), and I'll ping my contact and get you one.

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

These seems to have some answers, but not in a version I would share with my non-eco-friendly relatives:

http://www.ecologycenter.org/ptf/misconceptions.html

I hope that helps a little at least. -H...

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I imagine it depends on the plant and what it's able to recycle. San José recycles near damn everything, and they do all the sorting on their end.

It would be a poor process that allowed bad input to mess them up.

[keyne.livejournal.com]

Everyone in the household is a dedicated recycler already.

The specific argument was over a rigid container that a Christmas present was packaged in, which lacked the little arrows with a number inside. I argued that tossing it in a "mixed plastics" recycling bin can do no harm, since the recycler will use machines to sort their plastics and discard any which they consider nonrecyclable; I believe throwing it away preemptively, because of a worry that it will somehow "contaminate" the town's mixed-plastic collection, is a poor decision. Others disagreed.

[keyne.livejournal.com]

See my comment below.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

Interesting :) So....there are 2 possibilities:

1) it is recyclable
2) it is not recyclable

Possibility #3, "it's not recyclable but it will mess things up if you put it in with the stuff you know is recyclable" is not really feasible. Mostly because people less clueful than your family recycle stuff, and thus there has to be a margin of error.

However, I wouldn't venture to say it can do *no harm*, because you never know. I would agree that the safe bet is to throw it away, but if a family member insisted on putting it in the recycling, I'd probably just shrug and get on with life. If I really thought it was that big a deal I would call the proper authorities on Monday or Jan 5th or whatever when they re-open at the holidays. I'd think LJ would likely just give me "what people think" which is not what I'm going for, I'd want the official answer.

(Actually I'd probably call the company that made the product and ask them to use recyclable plastic....)

Given the amount of crap that gets put in the recycling bin, leftover food and drink bits stuck to cans, etc I'd think it's probably 98% OK to recycle it, because even if it's not recyclable, these days The Masses are recycling, so one thing messing up the town's recycling would have already had a disastrous outcome before now.

(this is along the same logic as me being more nervous when a sharp turn has guardrails than if it doesn't, because the presence of guardrails means that people thought it was dangerous enough for guardrails....basically if something was going to mess up the town's recycling, it would have been done already and you would have seen it in the paper. :) )

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

I wish there were a way to cut down on all the packaging. It's such a headache opening, breaking it down into recyclable components and getting it to the correct recycling place.

I know! We should just stop buying stuff and become holy mendicants.

[creidylad.livejournal.com]

My understanding is that the business model of the recycling industry balances on a knife edge. Too many undesirable containers add up quickly and, sorted or not, the process of having to deal with them costs money and makes the model less profitable and therefore less likely to succeed.

Current economic conditions have hurt the recycling industry faster and harder than many other areas of our economy; they would rather you err on the side of NOT recycling something if there is a question.

[harimad.livejournal.com]

It depends on the specifics of the plant & process in use at the far end of your recycling chain. There is no general answer. Except to echo what creidylad said - the economics are more of a problem than the chemistry.