There are a number of ways plastics are recycled. Plastics can be:
Reused
Certain plastics can be reused, for example:
- Plastic Drinks Bottles
- Carrier Bags
- Takeaway Containers
Collected
92% of all UK local authorities now offer collection facilities for plastic bottles either from your kerbside collection scheme or at recycling centres. You can check the postcode locator to find out which plastics your local authority collects.
Mechanically Recycled
Mechanical recycling is the process of recycling plastics by:
- melting;
- shredding; or
- granulating waste plastics
It is a two-stage process:
- Plastic is manually sorted by trained staff into polymer type and/or colour
- Plastic is either melted down directly and moulded into a new shape, or shredded into flakes then melted down before being processed into granulates
