Plastic Recycling
The Need for Plastic Recycling
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As you are probably well aware, plastics are an important part of your life. The extreme versatility of plastic is responsible for its many uses for everything from soft drink bottles and the refrigerator they are kept in, to the car you drive and home you live in. It’s no surprise that plastic accounts for a large amount of waste that is generated and an increased urgency for plastic recycling equipment. Harmony Enterprises, Inc. can help you find the right equipment for the job.
A newer and continually developing field of recycling, the business of recycling plastic has caught on fast. The number of plastic recycling businesses has nearly tripled over the past several years, with more then 1,700 businesses handling and reclaiming post-consumer plastics. Recycling plastic scrap and plastic pop bottles has become an increasingly large market of its own. With post consumer items made from PET and HDPE resins finding reliable markets within the United States and Asia, recycling plastic isn’t just environmentally friendly anymore, it’s become a nice source of revenue for several businesses.
Benefits to Plastic Recycling
Plastics are an essential part to our daily life. For instance, without plastics, 400 percent more material by weight, and 200 percent more material by volume would be needed to make packaging. However plastics contribute to a large amount of waste and the need for plastic recycling equipment has increased dramatically. Harmony Enterprises has designed balers and compactors that make recycling plastic scrap, plastic bottles, and other plastic materials easy and efficient. By recycling plastic, your business not only protects the environment and conserves resources; it also has gained an extra source of revenue. Here are some benefits of plastic recycling:
- Plastic Recycling frees space.
- Plastic Recycling creates a safer and more clutter free work environment.
- Plastic Recycling is environmentally friendly.
- Plastic Recycling assists your business in meeting the continually increasing demand on recycling requirements.
- Plastic Recycling can be a source of revenue.
Obstacles to Recycling Plastic Scrap, Plastic Bottles, and Other Plastic Waste
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In comparison to other commonly recycled items such as glass or metallic materials, baling plastic poses a unique set of challenges due to the “spring back” nature of the material. The widespread use of dyes, fillers, and other additives in plastics is another barrier to recycling. The polymer that is used is often too viscous to economically remove fillers and would be damaged by many of the processes that can cheaply remove the added dyes.
Harmony Enterprises has years of experience working with a wide range of plastics in a variety of settings and can help you select, configure, and properly maintain your equipment. As the recycling requirements and financial commodity continues to increase, it becomes important that your facility handles this challenging material safely and efficiently. With a large selection of recycling equipment and balers ranging from small portable models, such as the M30HD, to large automated baling systems like the S60XDRC, we are sure to have the baler for recycling plastic scrap, plastic bottles and other plastic waste.
What is Plastic Recycling?
The process of taking plastic scraps or plastic waste and recovering the material for use in manufacturing is plastic recycling. Melting down polyester soft drink bottles and spinning the melted polymer into fibers is a common example of plastic recycling. The actual recycling of plastic scraps is a straightforward process. The plastic bales are broken apart and ground into small flakes. Depending upon the type of plastic material being recycled, these flakes undergo a process in which the containments are sorted from the actual plastic flakes.
Types of Material
- Poly Ethylene Terepthalate (PET)
As known as #1, this plastic is a form of polyester or Mylar that is extremely tough and useful. Soft drink and Water bottles are made from this resin, as well as many plastic jars and clamshell packages.
This is one of the most common consumer plastics used, and has a well established market. It’s largest usage is in the textile industry.
| Common End Uses for PET |
| Textiles (ex. Carpet Companies) |
Fiber Fillings (pillows, quilts) |
| Ribbon for VCR & Audio Cassettes |
Bottle Market |
Resin Identification Codes - Plastic Recycling Codes
For a more complete listing of Resin Identification Codes and Plastic Recycling codes, view the following chart provided by the American Plastics Council.
Resin Indentification Chart PDF (178k)
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