As much as plastic bottles can have a variety of attributes, such as being compact and easy to grip yet sturdy and difficult to break, their after-use needs to be addressed. How they get disposed of, reused, or recycled has a significant impact on the environment and cost-saving.
Throughout the world today, over 60 million water bottles are discarded every day, and it can take up to 700 years for a single plastic bottle to biodegrade. These bottles clog up landfills and need landfill space to bury the non-recyclable waste. Plastic waste has various negative consequences for the ecosystem. As plastic degrades, toxins are released into the water and air, posing a health risk to humans, plants, and animals. To address these issues, individuals have collaborated to create a procedure for recycling plastic bottles and converting them into other useful goods such as clothing, furniture, fences, and new plastic bottles, bags, and containers.
Recycling is divided into numerous phases. Bottles must be collected from homes, businesses, and other sites first. The plastic bottles must then be separated from the metal, glass, and other objects that people discard in recycling bins. Plastic bottles are also classed based on the type of plastic used to make them. Following that, any food, drink, or chemical residue in the bottles is removed.
Furthermore, the bottles are pulverized into flakes and shredded. They are then melted and formed into small pellets about the size of a grain of rice. The pellets are packaged and sold to companies that can melt them down and transform them into a variety of goods. When considered, many plastic toys, tools, electronic devices, and other plastic goods are made from recycled plastic.
There are numerous reasons why plastic bottles should be recycled. For starters, recycling minimizes pollution caused by the chemicals used to manufacture these bottles. Recycling also reduces the amount of rubbish sent into landfills, allowing the garbage to take up less space.
The bulk of the waste is disposed of in landfills. It could need up to 500 years to disintegrate and decompose but could leach pollutants into the water and soil. Around 165 million tons of plastic rubbish lies floating in the oceans, posing a health and safety threat to marine life.
Micro-plastics are minuscule particles smaller than five millimeters in length produced from cosmetics, fabrics, or the breakdown of larger pieces that can be eaten by marine wildlife. They also contribute an additional 8.8 million tons to the oceans each year. Recycling also employs people who collect recyclable items and work in facilities that convert them into new materials. Recycling is important for both the economy and the environment, and it is easy to do.
Plastic has become widely used due to its inexpensive cost and ability to be manufactured with a wide range of properties. Only a small part of the plastic rubbish is recycled since there are various varieties of plastic with different chemical compositions, and recycled plastics might be polluted by mixing types. Paper and ink, for example, contaminate plastic waste.
Plastic is manufactured by combining smaller molecules into a big chain-like molecule, frequently with extra components added to give it specific properties, from petroleum or natural gas. It is time-consuming to separate many plastics from other recyclables, as well as differentiate the different plastic types from one another. There has been no simple solution to this so far. Some, like phthalates and bisphenol A, are potentially harmful to one’s health.
Plastic production accounts for 4% of global oil production, both as High-Density raw material and as an energy source in the manufacturing process. These polymers contain fossil fuel energy and have a higher energy value than coal and wood. Dumping so many of them in Landfills is not only a waste of a valuable resource that could be used to generate electricity, heat, or fuel, but it is also a waste of a valuable resource.
Plastics are strong but lightweight, resistant to chemical, UV, and bacterial degradation, and thermal and electrically conducting.
A chasing arrows symbol, or resin code, does not necessarily mean that a plastic container is recyclable. Most plastic containers are marked with the chasing arrows symbol number one through seven in the center.
The chemical compound used to create that plastic container is indicated by the number inside the arrows. The sign, unfortunately, does not imply that the plastic container can be recycled.
Inside the chasing arrow symbols, there are seven resin codes. These are:
Most cities collect type 1 and 2 plastics, as well as PET and HDPE resin bottles. These are created from a blow-molding procedure. The remaining plastics numbered 3 through 7, which are created using an injection molding or stamp molding technique, contain additives. These plastics, which require distinct recycling procedures and a different end market, are not commonly collected.
The markets for plastics with numbers 1 and 2 are stable and plentiful. At this time, the markets for other plastics are sporadic and inconsistent. For those markets, it is cheaper and easier to start with new plastic than gathering enough of the correct type (right color, no additives, no inks, and so on) than starting with recycled plastic. Plastics numbered 3 through 7 are frequently collected at the curb and must be removed at a recycling center, which is expensive, and disposed of somewhere. It is significantly easier and less expensive for residents to reuse or properly dispose of these containers.
To reduce trash and make room in the recycling trucks, residents can flatten plastic bottles. Residents can also assist by utilizing reusable containers, choosing products with less packaging, shopping in bulk, and purchasing products made from post-consumer recycled materials. This goes along with only recycling resin numbers 1 and number 2 plastics (bottles) with the other recyclable materials in the recycling bins.
Reduced usage of plastics, as well as reuse and recycling whenever possible, remain the greatest solutions for the plastic problem. More rules that prohibit the use of plastic bags, impose bottle deposits, and boost recycling would be beneficial. However, millions of tons of plastic waste remain in landfills across the country. Technologies that can use this waste as a resource can help to clean up the environment, reduce the reliance on oil, reduce the use of non-renewable natural materials, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and produce energy.
