The History of Recycling Plastics
Many of the products we use every day are made of plastic. Food packaging, automobile components and grocery carts are just a few of the thousands of uses for plastic. Since its introduction in the 1950s, plastics have continued to fill landfills with products that will not break down for centuries. To remedy this growing problem, many communities began recycling plastics, which led to a brand-new industry creating new products from reclaimed plastics.
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Plastic Problems
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Plastic first appeared in the 1950s and was considered a modern, "space age" material. It seemed like a wonder product--it was inexpensive, versatile and durable. Soon consumers were using so much of it that landfills became clogged with plastic waste. In addition, the very production of plastics released toxic chemicals into the air and used up non-renewable energy sources.
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First Plastic Recycling Programs
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Plastic recycling programs started in the 1980s when many states instituted bottle deposit return programs. Soft drink and water bottles are typically made of polyethylene terephthalate or PETE type plastic. Milk jug recycling programs, for high density polyethylene or HDPE plastics, also began in the 1980s. These programs became popular in many U.S. communities by the 1990s. The Plastic Bottle Institute of the Society of the Plastics Industry introduced a plan to code plastic containers by type, indicating which ones were recyclable with a triangle made of arrows.
Plastic Recycling Today
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According to the American Chemistry Council, about 60 percent of Americans live within an area that has a plastic recycling program either through roadside pick-up or drop-off centers. After receiving emptied and cleaned out plastic products from the consumer, a material recovery facility sorts them by type and sends them to a reclaimer for processing. Companies who produce products made of recycled plastics, such as carpets, clothing and containers, purchase material from the reclaimer. In 1986 there were only 310 companies that handled post-consumer plastic products. By 1999 there were 1,677. The American Chemistry Council reports that the amount of recycled plastics has increased every year since 1990.
Process
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Most plastics are chopped into pellets that can be used to make new products. Thermoplastics such as acrylic, vinyl and nylon can be melted down again and reused. Thermoset plastics like polyester and phenolics, which are created by a chemical reaction, can be ground down and used as filler. According to the American Chemical Council, chemical processing facilities can recycle some plastics back to their original building blocks.
Difficulties
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Recycling plastic is a time consuming process because it is difficult to automate. Food and drink containers are relatively easy to sort because they are made of a single type of plastic. But a consumer product like a cell phone is made up of many different types of plastics, most of which are present in very small components. Unlike other recyclable materials such as copper and aluminum, plastic is low in value and therefore not profitable to recycle. According to Packaging Today, only five percent of plastics are currently recycled in the U.S.
Experimental Processes
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Biodegradable plastics are in the research stages but are still too expensive to be cost-effective for consumers. Researchers have developed a process to add starch to plastic to allow it to degrade by sunlight but the process does not completely break down the plastic. Scientists have also genetically engineered a plastic-eating bacteria but it is not yet practical.
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- Photo Credit "Seagulls at University garbage dump, 1954" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: Seattle Municipal Archives (Seattle Municipal Archives) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
