What Plastics Can be Recycled?

By Rayda Plastics | 23 February 2023 |

Plastic is one of the most used materials around the world and consumes our everyday lives. Over 300 million tonnes of plastic is produced each year and re-using and recycling plastic products as many times as possible reduces our need to create new plastic time and time again.

After plastic products have been used, they are thrown out to be recycled into new products, including: 

  • Drinks bottles and food trays 
  • Flower pots, watering cans, and water butts 
  • Crates and pallets
  • Clothing and shoes 
  • Carrier bags 
  • Car parts 
  • Wheelie bins 
  • Bottles
  • Containers
  • Toothbrushes 
  • Cups, plates, and dinnerware 
  • Pens and pencils
  • Yoga mats 
  • Packaging
  • Furniture
  • Toys
  • Building materials 

 

Recyclable Plastics 

PET 

This is the most widely recycled plastic in the world and is recycled through mechanical or chemical means. During the recycling process, PET plastics are ground, crushed, re-granulated, and compounded into flakes which can then be filtered and melted to be formed into recycled pieces of plastic. Alternatively, PET plastics can be melted into sheets which can also be made to create recycled plastic. 

HDPE (High-density polyethylene) 

This is one of the easiest plastic polymers to recycle. During this process, HDPE is collected at recycling points and sent to large facilities to be processed. HDPE is often downcycled into plastic lumber, tables, benches, and other durable plastic products. 

LDPE (Low-density polyethylene) 

Although LDPE can be recycled, it can often be difficult. For example, plastic bags can get tangled up in recycling machinery which affects the entire recycling process. 

PP (polypropylene) 

Although this plastic can be recycled, it is often just thrown away and sent to landfills; this is because recycling polypropylene recycling is difficult and expensive. 

PVC (polyvinyl chloride) 

This type of plastic is recyclable, and here at Rayda we actually process around 28,000 kgs of recycled PVC plastic a month. 

 

Here at Rayda, we specialise in plastic extrusion and manufacturing. If you have any questions about what was talked about in our blog or have any other general enquiries about plastic, please contact our team today. 

Posted in Recycling

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