4 ms·

As is PET, the plastic drinks bottles are made from.

jdmoreira 4y ago
From wikipedia: > Most recycled PET is used as apparel fiber. > However rPET has also been sold in the form of carpet fiber. Mohawk Industries released everSTRAND in 1999, a 100% post-consumer recycled content PET fiber. Since that time, more than 17 billion bottles have been recycled into carpet fiber. Aluminum is 100% recyclable into whatever it was before. I guess just don't have the same standards for what recyclable means or should mean. IMHO plastics just go into a stupid microplastic generation pipeline grinding cycle.
- Steve44 4y ago
  That can be one use for it, however certainly in the UK most of the clear food packaging is made from rPET. PP, usually ready meal and microwave trays, at the moment can't use recycled material and still be certified for food contact. I think much of that goes into things like traffic cones and building materials.
nicoburns 4y ago
I'm not informed on PET specifically, but my understanding was that most plastics can only be recycled once, and that the recycling process generally can't produce the same grade of plastic as the input material.
- Steve44 4y ago
  The issue is primarily with sorting and contamination, such as different coloured bottles going on to the same batch meaning that resultant material won't be as clear. 10 years ago rPET containers were slightly foggy, but now it's virtually impossible to tell the difference by just looking - that's how far the infrastructure has come in a short period of time. Have a look at https://egreen.co.uk/brochure/index.html#p=32 https://egreen.co.uk/brochure/index.html#p=32 for an example of clear drinks cups made from 100% post consumer waste. Polymers can degrade, but if it's well managed then generally not a problem and I think it can be recycled more times than paper. Each time that is processes the fibres are broken so it the strength is affected. The lowest grade is toilet tissue which has almost no strength compared to something like virgin Kraft with very long fibres. One thing to consider is recycling is advancing at a phenomenal rate, what was the case five years ago may no longer be an issue.

From wikipedia: > Most recycled PET is used as apparel fiber. > However rPET has also been sold in the form of carpet fiber. Mohawk Industries released everSTRAND in 1999, a 100% post-consumer recycled content PET fiber. Since that time, more than 17 billion bottles have been recycled into carpet fiber. Aluminum is 100% recyclable into whatever it was before. I guess just don't have the same standards for what recyclable means or should mean. IMHO plastics just go into a stupid microplastic generation pipeline grinding cycle.

Steve44 4y ago
That can be one use for it, however certainly in the UK most of the clear food packaging is made from rPET. PP, usually ready meal and microwave trays, at the moment can't use recycled material and still be certified for food contact. I think much of that goes into things like traffic cones and building materials.

nicoburns 4y ago

I'm not informed on PET specifically, but my understanding was that most plastics can only be recycled once, and that the recycling process generally can't produce the same grade of plastic as the input material.

Steve44 4y ago
The issue is primarily with sorting and contamination, such as different coloured bottles going on to the same batch meaning that resultant material won't be as clear. 10 years ago rPET containers were slightly foggy, but now it's virtually impossible to tell the difference by just looking - that's how far the infrastructure has come in a short period of time. Have a look at https://egreen.co.uk/brochure/index.html#p=32 https://egreen.co.uk/brochure/index.html#p=32 for an example of clear drinks cups made from 100% post consumer waste. Polymers can degrade, but if it's well managed then generally not a problem and I think it can be recycled more times than paper. Each time that is processes the fibres are broken so it the strength is affected. The lowest grade is toilet tissue which has almost no strength compared to something like virgin Kraft with very long fibres. One thing to consider is recycling is advancing at a phenomenal rate, what was the case five years ago may no longer be an issue.