Your recycling cart is just the first stop in a pretty amazing process. Trust me — Nyla P. Lastic. I’ve got the deets to show how sweet plastic recycling can be.
First things first: It’s important to know your recycled plastic gets used to make all kinds of new items. Not only does it take less energy, water and other natural resources to create an item from recycled material, but recycled plastic can also make up 100% of the item it’s creating!
Let’s get into it!
After the ever-anticipated day arrives, your recycling truck takes off toward a local recycling center.
Then?
Your recyclables get sorted out! Non-recyclable items are removed (including any plastic bags), materials get grouped by color and the remaining recyclables get cubed into bales.
The cube holding your item may be transferred to another recycling center at this point. Whether it heads on out or stays in the same place, the bale is cut up into small plastic flakes.
Next.
The flakes get washed to rid them of any remaining contaminants. This is also where your hard work rinsing your containers shines. Your effort helps keep excess residue out of the containers — which means fewer rounds of washing!
From there …
Your plastic items are dried and melted so they can finally become all sorts of new items!
Nyla says, for example …
- Shampoo containers
- Grocery bags
- Yoga mats
- Footwear
- Backpacks
- More recycling bins
- & even more!
Want eeeeeven more? Hear from our human friends at EGLE and Cascade Engineering in this video: https://recyclingraccoons.org/recycling-benefits/#Plastic