Plastic recycling — a modern fairytale
We are all taught that recycling is the right thing to do. It reduces the use of raw materials, energy and it stops waste from filling up our landfills. Do you ever think about what happens to all the things you throw into the recycling bin? I never did until I moved to Sweden. In London, I would practice the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality of throwing all the things I thought were recyclable into the recycling bin and waiting for the weekly collection. Occasionally, a bright red sticker would appear, informing me that the recycling was contaminated, but otherwise I never gave it a second thought. In Sweden, recyclables need to be separated at home, and dropped off at the local recycling station, usually within 300 metres of your home. So separating metals, glass, paper and plastic turned into a weekly game of ‘guess what?’. Metals, paper and glass, are fairly obvious to identify, but I didn’t even know where to begin with plastics. Trying to understand which plastics are recyclable and how to identify them prompted me to do my own research, and what I discovered was shocking.
When we throw away our mixed recycling, the first step after collection, is sorting the recycling into similar components so it can be processed further — this can vary between recycling centres, cities and countries. Some centres will sort by hand, others will use machinery or a combination of human power and machinery. The process generally looks something like this: paper and cardboard are extracted using giant sieves, metals are extracted using magnets and currents and a jet air stream separates plastics from glass. Once plastics have been contained, similar plastic types need to be identified and sorted for further processing. At an automated recycling centre this will be done using lasers or optical sorters that distinguish between plastic types. As plastics grow in complexity or are mixed with other components like dyes, they become much harder to identify and recycle.
Contamination of recyclable materials with non-recyclables is a big issue for any recycling plant, as contaminated items can not be recycled effectively. Contamination occurs when soiled waste or other non-recyclable materials make it into recycling stream. These materials can negatively impact the quality of good recyclables, meaning that a whole load of good recyclable materials will be rejected if contamination levels are too high. The process for cleaning recyclables is expensive, complicated and often market conditions do not make this an attractive option. A good example of contamination, is all of those half-filled plastic water bottles thrown away at the airport. In the majority of cases they will end up at the landfill. In America, 25% of recyclables are contaminated and contamination levels have been steadily increasing. This may be attributed to the use of the single-stream recycling system and the growing complexity of packing.
It is increasingly important that we stop this trend — here are three simple steps you can take to reduce recycling contamination:
- Always empty packaging and containers before throwing them into the recycling.
- Give greasy or soiled recyclable packaging a quick rinse. If it’s too soiled throw it away, otherwise it will contaminate.
- Stop throwing non-recyclables into the recycling bin. Read labels carefully and take the time to understand what can and cannot be recycled in your local area. The most common contaminants are takeaway coffee cups and plastic bags.
Understanding which plastics are recyclable can be complicated. There are many different types of plastics and many of us do not understand the code system used to identify them. The International Resin Identification Code, otherwise known as ‘RIC’ is most often used and you will recognise it as the chasing arrow triangles usually with a number 1–7 in the middle. Unfortunately for us, the code was administered to ease the identification of plastics at the recycling centre, not in the home. The number in the triangle only indicates the type of resin used to make the plastic, not whether its recyclable or reusable. Sadly it’s left to the consumer to figure out which plastics are and even if something is technically recyclable, there’s a very high chance that your local recycling program does not have the facilities to do so or the market demand is just not there. The most important advice I can give here is to familiarise yourself with the RIC code and contact your local recycling centre to find out just what exactly is recyclable.
Here is a short guide to remembering RIC, starting with the most widely recycled plastics:
Frequently Recycled Plastics
No1 PET/PETE (Polyethylene Terephthalate) is the most commonly used plastic due to its barrier abilities - it is also widely recycled. Most water and soft drink bottles are made using PET/PETE plastic.
No2 HDPE (High-density Polyethylene) plastic is one of the safest forms of plastic and the easiest to recycle with a relatively simple and cost-efficient process. Products made of HDPE are reusable and recyclable, this includes packaging like milk containers and laundry detergents.
Not Widely Recycled Plastics
No3 PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) is a soft flexible plastic, used typically for wrapping, toys and window frames. It is often called the poison plastic because it contains toxins which it can leach throughout the entire product life cycle. PVC is recyclable but very little of it ever is because of its chlorine components.
No4 LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) is a thin and heat resistant plastic. Most of your supermarket plastic bags are made of LDPE. LDPE is not widely recycled. Though it’s worth checking to see if your supermarket has its own plastic bag collection scheme.
No5 PP (Polypropylene) similar to LDPE, is a tough and lightweight plastic. It is used in food containers, like the plastic liner for your cereal. PP is recyclable but few PP products ever are.
No6 PS (Polystyrene) plastic is inexpensive, lightweight and is used to make items like styrofoam takeaway containers. It it structurally weak and easily breaks up, dispersing over land and sea. Polystyrene may leach styrene into food and has been linked with human health dysfunction. The technology for recycling polystyrene is available, but is used rarely.
No7 Other (BPA, Polycarbonate and LEXAN) is a catch-all category for any other plastic types. You might have come across water bottles with the label ‘BPA free’, this means the plastic does not contain Bisphenol-A, which is known to mimic estrogen and has been linked to various health problems.
To add to the confusion, you may also come across these two frequently used symbols on your packaging.
The ‘mobius loop’ — which looks like the RIC chasing arrows but without the number in the middle — means that the item can be recycled, so you should put it into the recycling bin. Whether it will be recycled will depend on your local recycling scheme.
The more misleading of the two symbols is the ‘green dot’. This literally means that the producer is a member of the ‘Green Dot’ scheme and has made a financial contribution to a national packaging recovery organisation. This symbol does not give any indication of whether the item is recyclable, so unless you find another recycling symbol alongside it, throw it in the trash.
Despite the recycling potential of plastic and all our efforts, only 9% of all plastics globally are ever recycled. The economics and logistics behind recycling plastic is the real reason why so little of it is ever recycled. The low cost of fossil fuels used to make plastic make it a much cheaper option to produce new than to recycle existing plastic. There is a huge need for innovative and cost-effective new recycling processes and technologies in the industry. While we wait for governments and the recycling industry to catch up with more funding and more innovation, the responsibility of recycling plastics falls on us, consumers. We can make an active choice to use much less plastic and replace it with other recyclable materials. Next time you are in in the supermarket filling up your shopping cart, just remember that 90% of the trash floating in the oceans today is plastic. Choose paper, metal or glass recyclables instead.
