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Plastic recycling is the processing of plastic waste into other products. [1] [2] [3] Recycling can reduce dependence on landfills, conserve resources and protect the environment from plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. [4] [5] [6] Recycling rates lag behind those of other recoverable materials, such as aluminium, glass and paper.
Recycling plastics presents the difficulty of handling mixed plastics, as unmixed plastics are usually necessary to maintain desirable properties. Mixing many plastics results in diminished material properties, with even just a few percent of polypropylene mixed with polyethylene producing a plastic with significantly reduced tensile strength. [7]
Closed-loop recycling involves: collecting and sorting recycled materials, extracting resources from the materials, and using those resources as inputs in the manufacturing of products practically identical to the original. Recycled materials are collected from homes, businesses, and recycling banks. [4]
Only about 5% of plastic waste in the U.S. gets recycled. Scientists, lawmakers and even chemical companies themselves are trying to change that.
The current recycling rate in the United States is around 32%, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The goal of the agency is to get to at least 50% by the end of the decade.
A circular economy (also referred to as circularity or CE) [1] is a model of resource production and consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible.