Maya Ellison
Plastic recycling rates are extremely low, with some sources estimating that only 5% of plastics are recycled. This is due to a variety of factors, including the high cost and energy intensity of recycling, the lack of capacity and infrastructure for recycling certain types of plastics, and the fact that some plastics are not recyclable at all. For example, thermoset plastics, which make up 25% of global plastic production, are difficult to recycle because they do not soften when exposed to heat. Additionally, plastic with food residues is usually unfit for recycling, and even diligently sorted plastics are often of lower quality than primary plastic. The process of recycling is also quite challenging, as different types of plastic do not mix well when melted down, and small amounts of the wrong type can degrade the quality of the entire batch.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Low recycling rate | 5% to 15% |
| Lack of capacity for recycling | Recycling facilities in the U.S. that accept plastic cups and containers: 52% |
| Plastic waste management issues | Plastic accounts for 70% of waste |
| High production of single-use plastics | Plastic packaging accounts for 40% of plastic production in Europe |
| Plastic pollution crisis | 91% of plastic waste ends up in landfills, oceans, or is incinerated |
| Difficulty in recycling | Sorting, washing, and recycling plastics is expensive and energy-intensive |
| Limited market for recycled plastic | Downcycling results in products of lower quality and limited use |
| Inability to recycle all plastics | Thermoset plastics (25% of global plastics) cannot be recycled |
| Food residue contamination | Plastics with food residues are unfit for recycling |
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What You'll Learn
Plastic is hard to recycle due to the many different types
Plastic recycling is a complex process that is difficult to implement at scale. While mechanical recycling is the most common method, it has limitations when applied to the thousands of different types of plastics. These plastics have different melting points, colours, and technical properties, making them incompatible when melted down together. Small amounts of the wrong type of plastic can degrade the quality of an entire batch, so careful sorting is required. This sorting is typically done with high-tech machines at large-scale recycling facilities, but it is still challenging to process the vast number of plastic types.
The variety of plastic types also leads to issues with downcycling, where recycled plastic is of lower quality than primary plastic. More than 10,000 different additives are used to modify the properties of plastics, and even plastics of the same type can have different combinations of additives. This results in recycled plastic with unpredictable and often suboptimal properties. Additionally, the long polymer chains that make up plastics shorten each time they are melted down, further reducing the quality of the recycled product.
The market for recycled plastic is limited due to these quality issues. Manufacturers struggle to create products with recycled plastic, and the recycled plastic market becomes less attractive compared to cheap, newly produced plastic. This market fragmentation makes it challenging for sellers of recycled plastic to find buyers, and the high costs of recycling make it difficult to compete with new plastic production.
The challenges of recycling specific types of plastics, such as thermoset plastics, also contribute to the overall difficulty of plastic recycling. Thermoset plastics, used in electrical insulation, ropes, belts, and pipes, do not soften when heated, making them nearly impossible to recycle. While they are less frequently disposed of due to their durability, their disposal contributes significantly to environmental pollution. Overall, the variety of plastic types and the limitations of current recycling technologies make plastic recycling a complex and challenging process.
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It is costly to collect, wash, sort, separate and grade
Plastic recycling is an energy-intensive process that requires multiple steps, including collection, washing, sorting, shredding, melting, and forming pellets to be sold to producers of recycled plastic products. The process is challenging due to the existence of thousands of different types of plastics that cannot be melted down together. The variety of plastics necessitates careful sorting, which can be costly and time-consuming. This sorting process is typically done with high-tech machines at large-scale recycling facilities in high-income countries. However, the availability of such facilities and technologies may vary across regions, impacting the overall cost of the process.
The recycling process also involves separating and grading the plastics, which can be laborious and expensive. Different types of plastics have distinct chemical structures and properties, requiring specific handling methods. For example, thermoplastics can be melted and moulded multiple times, while thermoset plastics are challenging to recycle due to their resistance to softening when heated. The presence of food residues or other contaminants on the plastic can further complicate the recycling process, as only clean plastics are suitable for recycling.
The cost of collecting, washing, sorting, separating, and grading plastics is a significant factor in the low recycling rates. It is more expensive and energy-intensive to recycle plastics than to produce new ones from scratch. This economic disparity discourages investment in recycling infrastructure and technologies, hindering the advancement of plastic recycling on a large scale.
Additionally, the market for recycled plastic is limited due to the lower quality of the recycled material compared to primary plastic. The recycled plastic often finds itself in downcycling applications, creating products with less stringent technical or aesthetic qualities. Manufacturers have limited options for utilising recycled plastic, further reducing the demand for recycled material and perpetuating the reliance on new plastic production.
The high costs associated with the collection, washing, sorting, separating, and grading of plastics contribute to the challenges of increasing plastic recycling rates. Addressing these economic hurdles through innovative technologies, efficient processes, and supportive policies is crucial for promoting a more sustainable approach to plastic waste management.
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Plastic with food residues usually can't be recycled
Plastic is an integral part of modern life, found in everything from packaging to electronics. However, the environmental impact of plastic waste is significant, and only a small percentage of plastic is recycled. One of the reasons for this is that plastic with food residues usually cannot be recycled.
Food residues are considered contaminants and must be removed before plastic can be recycled. Clean plastics are processed into small pieces or pellets, melted down, and reformed into new products. However, if food residue is mixed with recyclable plastics, it can spoil entire batches, leading to disposal instead of recycling. This is because different plastics have distinct chemical compositions, and mixing them can yield unstable products with failures in structural integrity or safety issues.
Contamination is a significant issue in plastic recycling. For example, oil residue in an empty oil container or food residue in a takeaway container can render the plastic unrecyclable. This is a problem because many people assume that as long as an item is made of plastic, it can be recycled. However, the reality is that only good-quality, clean plastics can go through the recycling process.
Furthermore, recycling is an energy-intensive process that becomes more costly as additional steps, such as washing, are added. The cost of recycling certain plastics may exceed the value of the recycled materials, creating a disincentive for many facilities to accept these plastics for recycling. As a result, plastic waste often ends up in landfills, where it can take hundreds of years to biodegrade, or it is incinerated, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
While mechanical recycling is the most common method of plastic recycling, it is not the only one. Chemical recycling, where plastic is broken down into monomers to form new polymers, is another way to recycle plastic. Additionally, regulatory bodies like the FDA in the US and EFSA in Europe are working to ensure the safety of recycled plastics for food packaging through rigorous testing and approval processes. However, recycled plastics for food packaging must meet stringent safety and hygiene standards, which can be challenging and costly to achieve.
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Plastic is cheap to produce, so recycled plastic is less competitive
Plastic is cheap to produce, and recycling it is an energy-intensive process that becomes more costly as additional steps are added. This creates a competitive environment in which recycled plastic is significantly more expensive than new plastic.
The production of new plastic is still relatively cheap and easy, and this has resulted in few markets for plastic trash. Consumers often want to recycle all kinds of plastic items, but many of these cannot be recycled and end up in landfills. For example, plastic with food residues usually cannot be recycled, and only good-quality, clean plastics can go through the recycling process.
The process of recycling plastic is far from simple in practice. Plastic waste needs to be collected, cleaned, sorted, shredded, and melted down to be formed into pellets and sold to producers of recycled plastic products. Different types of plastic do not mix well when melted down, and small amounts of the wrong type can degrade the quality of a whole batch, so careful sorting is required first. This sorting usually happens with the help of high-tech machines at large-scale recycling facilities, which are not always available.
The result is that the vast majority of plastic that people use, and put into recycling bins, ends up in landfills or the environment. According to a 2022 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 72% of the plastic we make ends up in landfills or the environment, and only 9% of the plastic ever produced has been recycled. This low recycling rate is due to a lack of capacity for recycling various plastics and the fact that plastic is cheap to produce, making recycled plastic less competitive.
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Plastic degrades after one or two uses
Plastic is a product that is designed to last for decades or even centuries. For instance, plastic water bottles made with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are estimated to take around 450 years to fully break down. Single-use plastic bags take about two decades to break down. However, in 2009, researchers from Nihon University in Chiba, Japan, found that plastic in warm ocean water can degrade in as little as a year. Nevertheless, this is not ideal, as the plastic degrades into toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) and PS oligomer, which can end up in the guts of animals or wash up on shorelines.
The durability of plastic is due to its chemical composition. Plastic is derived from petroleum, which is processed from naturally occurring crude oil. However, the carbon bonds in plastic are not the same as the chemical bonds found in nature, making it harder and more energy-intensive to break them down.
The long polymer chains that make up plastic materials become slightly shorter each time they are melted down, which is what happens when plastic is recycled. This means that recycled plastic is almost always of lower quality than primary plastic. More than 10,000 different additives are used to give plastics different colours and technical properties, and these can result in recycled material with unpredictable and often suboptimal additive combinations.
Furthermore, not all types of plastic can be recycled. About 75% of global plastics produced are thermoplastics that can be melted and moulded, which makes them, in theory, recyclable. The remaining 25% are thermoset plastics that do not soften when exposed to heat, making them nearly impossible to recycle.
In addition, plastic with food residues or other contaminants usually cannot be recycled. Only good-quality, clean plastics can go through the recycling process. Recycling is also an energy-intensive process that becomes more costly as additional steps are added. In countries where electricity prices are high, it might be more profitable to incinerate plastic rather than recycle it.
All these factors contribute to the low recycling rates of plastic. According to a Greenpeace report, only about 5% of plastics are recycled. The official recycling rate for plastic in the United States, as published by the Environmental Protection Agency and last updated for 2018, is even lower at 8.7%.
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Frequently asked questions
According to a Greenpeace report, only about 5% of plastics are recycled. This is due to a lack of capacity for recycling various plastics.
The challenges of recycling plastics include the following:
- It is expensive to collect, wash, sort, separate, and grade plastics.
- There are thousands of different types of plastics, and they cannot be melted down together.
- Plastic degrades after one or two uses.
- Plastic is cheap and easy to produce, so there is little incentive to recycle it.
- It is difficult to find markets for recycled plastic.
There are two main types of plastics: thermoplastics and thermoset plastics. Thermoplastics can be melted and molded, making them, in theory, recyclable. Thermoset plastics, on the other hand, do not soften when exposed to heat, making them difficult to recycle. However, due to their durability, thermoset plastics are disposed of less often and may cause less environmental damage.
Mechanical recycling is the most common type of plastic recycling. Plastic waste is collected, cleaned, sorted, shredded, melted down, and formed into pellets, which are then sold to producers of recycled plastic products. However, different types of plastic do not mix well when melted down, and recycled plastic is often of lower quality than primary plastic.
Alternatives to recycling plastics include incineration, which can generate heat and electricity, and landfilling. However, incineration contributes to GHG emissions and air pollution.
