Plastic recycling is converting waste or scrap plastic & transforming materials into new & useful products. The aim of plastic recycling is primarily to reduce the extensively high rates of plastic pollution and reduce pressure from producing virgin plastic products. This process helps conserve the resources & eliminate plastic from unintended destinations like landfills, oceans, etc.
The growing awareness among people about the need to reduce plastic waste from the environment is compelling several companies, associations, & people, in general, to adopt plastic recycling processes and contribute to environmental conservation. A recent research report has indicated that the Plastic Recycling Market in Asia-Pacific is expecting around 6.4% CAGR during 2021-26. The market growth attributes primarily to the mounting focus of governments of different countries across Asia-Pacific on sustainable developments and the urgent need to address environmental issues associated with massive plastic pollution.
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The Growing Need for Plastic Recycling
Plastic is amongst the most versatile, durable, inexpensive, and lightweight materials with extensive applications in different sectors. Due to the vast features of plastic, more than 400 tons of plastic get manufactured worldwide for various applications, which, in turn, increases the need to reuse, recycle, & utilize plastics in different ways.
Different Types of Plastics & their Recyclability
There are a variety of plastics, and the most common types include the following six. Let us find more about these plastics and some typical products made from each type.
- PS (Polystyrene): mainly for manufacturing items like foam cups, yogurt containers, and plastic cutlery.
- HDPE (High-density Polyethylene): for producing shampoo containers or milk bottles.
- LDPE (Low-density Polyethylene): for making bins & bags for easy disposal of garbages.
- PP (Polypropylene): for lunch boxes, ice cream containers, take-out food containers, etc.
- PVC (Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride or Polyvinyl Chloride): bottles for cordial, juice, or squeeze bottles.
- PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate): primarily for the production of fruit juice & soft drink bottles.
Presently, PET, PVC, & HDPE are the only plastics recycled extensively through curbside recycling programs. However, PS, PP, & LDPE can't be recycled since their materials are difficult & expensive to process & break down.
Process of Plastic Recycling
Plastic recycling involves collecting, sorting, shredding, washing, melting, & pelletizing the plastic. There are several complex ways of recycling plastic, yet, the following steps are among the simplest ones:
- Step 1: Sorting plastics manually or using machinery to remove contaminants from the plastic waste streams.
- Step 2: The sorted content is then brought in for melting down plastic, either directly into a new shape or shredded into flakes, before being processed into granulates.
Undoubtedly, plastics are the most versatile materials and have extensive applications across different verticals. The overall lifespan of plastics can be optimized by reusing & recycling them into new products and converting them into products like plastic bottles, containers, & other innovative products. Hence, in this manner, people can also reduce the need for virgin plastics and contribute to environmental conservation in the following ways:
- Conservation of non-renewable fossil fuels like oil
- Reducing the content of solid waste in landfill
- Minimizing energy consumption used in the production of new plastics
- Lowering carbon emissions in the atmosphere
Summing Up
Now, it can be said that the rapidly increasing volume of plastic waste is becoming an alarming concern for both humans & the environment. Hence, these issues are propelling the need to reduce plastic & avoid the settlement of waste products that take more than a year to decompose in landfills. With this, the Asia-Pacific Plastic Recycling Market is set to witness significant growth opportunities in the coming years.