They can also be made into new plastic bags. These materials can be recycled over and over again, so make sure you are not throwing any of these out! Plastic bottles used for sodas or drinking water are some of the most commonly thrown away plastics in the world. These plastics can be recycled to make many new items. Items like clothing t-shirts, sweaters, jackets , for making sleeping bags that are insulated, can be used for carpeting and also making more plastic bottles.
To make one t-shirt from plastic, you only need 10 plastic bottles. When we speak about recycling plastic bottles, we tend to ignore the caps of these bottles. These are made from a different plastic that is harder and opaque compared to the body of the bottle. When we send these plastic bottle caps for recycling they get converted into car batteries, gardening equipment, storage containers, shopping bags, ropes, yarn, and you guessed it…more caps! When you buy electronics, they usually come packed and padded with foam packaging.
When you turn these over for recycling, this foam packaging gets converted to plastic picture frames, plastic insulation, and new foam packaging. Before you throw any plastic away, make sure you spend some time to understand what these plastics can be turned into. So we really need to get on top of our recycling game.
With so much recycling technology in pace, it is shocking to find out that most of the plastic just skips the very important process of recycling. Lack of awareness is one of the main reasons why this happens, which is why we encourage recycling so much. It is important to spread this knowledge to as many people as possible.
Make it a point to educate at people about the benefits of recycling. They even let us carry goldfish home from the pet store. Today there are thousands of grocery and retail stores to collect these bags for recycling, including most Target, Walmart, Lowes, Safeway stores and more.
And remember that at all these places, we also can recycle lots of the plastic wraps that protect the things we buy even bubble wrap! When they are recycled plastic bags and wraps can made into plastic lumber that is used to make park benches, backyard decks and fences — even playground equipment.
They also can be recycled into new plastic bags — and then recycled again. Check out this web site that talks about recycling plastic bags and find out where you can recycle them in your community. When plastic bottles are recycled they can be made into lots of things: t-shirts, sweaters, fleece jackets, insulation for jackets and sleeping bags, carpeting and more bottles.
It takes only 14 bottles to create enough insulation fiberfill for a ski jacket. And bottles to make enough insulation fiberfill for a sleeping bag. Nearly If everyone pitches in, we can do even better.
Crystal Howe, the company's sustainability manager, says the company buys about 80 to 85 per cent of PET plastic collected from recycling programs in Ontario.
In general, virgin PET — made directly from raw materials derived from fossil fuels — is cheaper and easier to source than recycled PET. Schedler says many large beverage companies want to sign very large, long-term contracts for their plastic. That's generally not possible for recycled PET, which is sourced from many different recycling and bottle deposit programs of variable quality that depend on what people put in the bin.
The supply of recycled PET in North America also typically outstrips demand, Schedler says, and that makes it difficult to ensure the quality of the recycled PET is high enough for bottles.
Howe says the company has found bottle-to-bottle recycling reduces energy use by 70 per cent and water consumption during manufacturing by 99 per cent. The company has addressed some of the business challenges by starting its own plastics recycling company, Blue Mountain Plastics, which buys bales of bottles from municipal recycling programs — mostly in Ontario — and processing it into rPET itself. On one hand, it is easier for smaller companies to get the amount of recycled PET they need, and that's one reason why most per cent recycled PET bottles are sold by smaller companies.
But, Schedler thinks bigger beverage companies also need to be held accountable for the waste they generate. He also sees the shortage of recycled PET as a "convenient argument," but he doesn't buy it — he thinks they would be able to get what they need if they were willing to pay more for it.
Coca-Cola recently announced that it will sell per cent recycled plastic bottles in Sweden to help meet a goal of having 50 per cent recycled plastic in all its bottles in Western Europe by , Reuters reported. Currently it uses 11 per cent worldwide. Pepsi has set a goal to use 25 per cent recycled content in its plastic packaging, but hasn't said by when.
However, by it plans to reduce its use of virgin plastic by 20 per cent compared to By , Nestle plans to use 15 per cent recycled content globally and 35 per cent recycled content in its PET water bottles, up from the current two per cent and five per cent, respectively.
Extended producer responsibility: These are laws that require manufacturers that generate waste such as plastic bottles to help support recycling financially. Some recycling programs in Canada already have partial or full EPR. Deposit-return laws: Requiring people to pay a deposit when they buy beverage bottles and getting it back when they return it will result in a higher recovery rate and higher-quality, less contaminated plastic, Schedler says.
More recycling bins in public places : Howe suggests that having more recycling opportunities away from home at places such as gas stations would help boost recycling rates.
Minimum recycled content laws: Schedler thinks laws that require at least a certain percentage of recycled PET in bottles would make the biggest difference. Similar laws in California for the plastic used in laundry jugs — HDPE — have kept the supply and prices for recycled material much more stable, he added.
She has a PhD in chemistry. A variety of newsletters you'll love, delivered straight to you.
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