3 ms·

> It can be reprocessed, but never recycled Huh, I didn't know that. TBH, I was pretty sure most of it was just going to landfill somewhere in Asia, with only

> It can be reprocessed, but never recycled Huh, I didn't know that. TBH, I was pretty sure most of it was just going to landfill somewhere in Asia, with only a small portion really being recycled. What does "reprocessed" mean though? Taking the example of a prepackaged meal tray, what might happen to it?

smallerfish 5y ago
Meal tray probably is going to landfill. Otoh plastic water bottles may end up as "carpet, clothing, plastic packaging." https://www.livescience.com/how-much-plastic-recycling.html https://www.livescience.com/how-much-plastic-recycling.html
- globular-toast 5y ago
  Yeah, which is not a cycle. It's a linear path with the landfill at the end. I doubt there's even many examples with more than two hops before the landfill. That's why I call it "reprocessing", not recycling. According to that article, only 8.4% of plastic can be reprocessed. So that's 91.4.% with one hop to the landfill, 8.4% with two hops. It's not recycling by any stretch but they've been allowed to hijack the word.
Aromasin 5y ago
It gets processed into pellets which can be melted down and extruded. Generally these are lower grade materials, meaning they are used for different purposes [1]. This might be water bottles getting made into polymer fibers for cushion filling and the like, or disposable cups into plant pots. Eventually they get processed to the point where the grade is too low to be recycled any further, at which point they end up in landfill. Modern recycling practices have extended the recyclable life of plastics, but often by creating a lot of unusable byproduct which again, is chemically treated to then be put into landfill. [1] https://plasgranltd.co.uk/plasgran-guide-plastic-recycling-grades/ https://plasgranltd.co.uk/plasgran-guide-plastic-recycling-g...

3 ms·

> It can be reprocessed, but never recycled Huh, I didn't know that. TBH, I was pretty sure most of it was just going to landfill somewhere in Asia, with only

by GordonS 5y ago

smallerfish 5y ago
Meal tray probably is going to landfill. Otoh plastic water bottles may end up as "carpet, clothing, plastic packaging." https://www.livescience.com/how-much-plastic-recycling.html https://www.livescience.com/how-much-plastic-recycling.html
- globular-toast 5y ago
  Yeah, which is not a cycle. It's a linear path with the landfill at the end. I doubt there's even many examples with more than two hops before the landfill. That's why I call it "reprocessing", not recycling. According to that article, only 8.4% of plastic can be reprocessed. So that's 91.4.% with one hop to the landfill, 8.4% with two hops. It's not recycling by any stretch but they've been allowed to hijack the word.
Aromasin 5y ago
It gets processed into pellets which can be melted down and extruded. Generally these are lower grade materials, meaning they are used for different purposes [1]. This might be water bottles getting made into polymer fibers for cushion filling and the like, or disposable cups into plant pots. Eventually they get processed to the point where the grade is too low to be recycled any further, at which point they end up in landfill. Modern recycling practices have extended the recyclable life of plastics, but often by creating a lot of unusable byproduct which again, is chemically treated to then be put into landfill. [1] https://plasgranltd.co.uk/plasgran-guide-plastic-recycling-grades/ https://plasgranltd.co.uk/plasgran-guide-plastic-recycling-g...