Plastic grocery bags contribute to the influx of plastic into landfills.
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Plastic is generally regarded as an enemy of the environment as it is generally not biodegradable. However, more and more consumer products are being packaged or developed using plastic. Recycling can help mitigate the perpetual use of plastic in production, but it presents some challenges and problems.
Common recycling processes use incinerators and other equipment to break plastic goods down into reusable resin substances. While this process has been effective in minimizing use of new plastics, it is not foolproof. A major problem in this process is that different plastic goods often aren't compatible. This challenge means that you cannot always mix recycled plastic items in the same process. Manual efforts to separate like plastics are necessary.
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Products labeled as recycled plastic typically aren't made from 100 percent recycled materials, or anywhere close to it. According to the City of Redding, Calif.'s plastic recycling web page, many recycled plastic goods may actually contain only a tiny percent of recycled plastic. Paper, ink and scraps from other consumer and industrial products often find their way into recycled plastics. This factor can impact the quality and recycled benefits of the new product.
Recycled plastic typically isn't as strong after it has gone through recycling processes as it was originally. Thus, many goods made of recycled plastics cannot be recycled a second time. Additionally, the potential for toxicity limits certain plastic containers from being recycled. You can't use recycled plastic to create food containers or packaging because of the possibility of bacteria. Plastic containers used to store harmful materials such as pesticides aren't recyclable because of the risks they pose.
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Recycled plastic isn't as valuable as original or virgin plastic. This factor impacts the demand for recycled plastics in the industrial economy. If a manufacturer wants to make a plastic-based product or component, its desire to use recycled materials is mitigated by the potential decrease in perceived value by its customer. Processes to improve the quality of recycled plastic are continually being researched. However, industrial firms still often prefer virgin plastic for certain products.
Plastic is both widely used and highly recyclable. Many forms of plastic--water bottles, shopping bags and food containers among others--are suitable for recycling. Plastic recycling helps keep disposable products out of landfills, where they would take hundreds of years to decompose naturally. However, unlike other materials like glass and metal, recycled plastics aren't able to continually serve the same purpose after recycling.
Each piece of recycled plastic represents a potential environmental threat. The process of melting down and recycling plastic produces VOC, or volatile organic compounds, fumes that can harm plant and animal life near the industrial site. The heat needed to melt plastic also generates carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming. Recycling center workers who discover unrecyclable plastic, which includes pieces that contain food waste or debris, may discard it improperly. Since plastic is not classified as a hazardous material, its recycling doesn't come under international regulation, thereby complicating efforts to solve this problem.
The same VOCs that cause plastic recycling to harm the environment can also present health threats to the people who come into contact with recycled plastics. Plastic resin, which is part of the manufacturing and recycling process, and comes from petroleum, can leech into foods stored in recycled plastic containers. The amount of chemicals that users consume can increase based on the type of plastic and other factors like temperature and the plastic's age. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not cite recycled plastics as a major health threat, plastic manufacturers only use a small portion of recycled plastic, if any, when producing food containers and packaging.
Because of the potential health threats recycled plastic poses, much plastic recycling is actually downcycling. This means that the plastic, instead of becoming another new container, instead becomes a different, less useful product. For example, a plastic water bottle may be downcycled to become artificial turf or plastic furniture. Recycled plastic's limited use places it at a disadvantage compared to new plastics and other recycled materials.
After downcycling, plastic is generally unfit for another round of recycling. This means that it ends up in a landfill despite having seen a secondary use as a less useful product. Downcycling simply delays the process, and manufacturers have the same demand for new plastics.
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