Plastic Bottle Recycling

There are about 50 different groups of plastics, with hundreds of different varieties.

Technically, almost all of these plastics can be recycled.

To make sorting and thus recycling easier, the American Society of Plastics Industry developed a standard marking code to help consumers identify and sort the main types of plastic. Next time you look at a plastic bottle or container see if you can find the identifying symbol. The following plastics are common examples:

• Polyethylene terephthalate, PET or PETE, is generally a clear tough plastic. Common uses are soft drink bottles and filling for sleeping bags and pillows.
• High density polyethylene, HDPE, is a common plastic used to make plastic milk, shampoo and cream bottles. Other common uses are in producing wheelie bins and compost bins

Recycling old plastic bottles:

• Plastic bottles are collected from kerbside collections or from a collection bank.
• They are taken to a Materials Recovery Facility where the plastic bottles are separated from any other recyclable materials such as paper and cans.
• The plastics can be sorted further by optical sorters that can read what type of plastic the bottle is and separate it using jets of air. This will separate the common types of plastic bottle out whether it is PET, HDPE or even PVC.
• Once separated into different types they are either granulated or flaked so that they can be made into new products by re-processors.
• The granulated or flaked plastic can be made into new products such as the following:
   - Plastic bottles
  - Flooring and window frames
  - Building insulation board
  - Fencing and garden furniture
  - Water butts, garden sheds and compost bins
  - Fleeces
  - Fibre filling for sleeping bags and duvets

Facts about plastic bottle recycling:

• Using recycled plastic conserves non-renewable fossil fuels - plastic production uses 8% of the world's oil production, 4% as feedstock and 4% during manufacture
• Recycling plastics reduces consumption of energy, the amounts of solid waste going to landfill and emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide

What you can do:

• Try to reduce the plastic you use. Refill bottles rather than buying new ones and try to buy fewer large bottles rather than many small ones.
• Make sure you recycle your plastic bottles and other plastics where possible.
• Make sure the plastics are clean, dry and all bottle tops are removed before recycling them. Remember to be made into new products they must be free of contamination.

Why are not all plastics collected for recycling?

• Even though it is possible to recycle all plastics, collection schemes are often limited to certain types. Collection, infrastructure and low market demand are barriers to the recycling of some types of plastics.
• Biodegradable plastics, for example, are made from a plastic which breaks down. This means they are not designed to be recycled.
• There is a healthy demand for plastic bottles which is why these are accepted in all kerbside recycling schemes in Lincolnshire.