Recycling Plastic Essay

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Recycling of Plastics We all know that a blue recycling bin in our house are used to recycle many items, such as plastic, but what we don’t know is the process of recycling plastics and and the many different types of plastics there are. Plastic is a synthetic or semisynthetic organic solid that are made up mostly of organic polymers. They are used in a variety of ways in our daily life. In fact, more than 2.4 billion pounds of plastic was recycled in 2008 and over the past 45 years, single use plastic packaging has increased by 10,000%. There are different types of plastics used and and each one goes through a different process of recycling. The different types of plastic have different properties and can be separated into 7 categories: 1. Polyethylene terephthalate (PETE)- Provides a very good oil barrier property, that serves to improve gas and moisture barrier, and impact strength. They are mostly used in carbonate drinking bottles, peanut butter jars, plastic films, and microwavable packaging. 2. High-density polyethylene (HDPE)- HDPE is impact resistant and provides a good moisture barrier. HDPE are mostly used in detergent bottles, milk jugs, and molded plastic cases. 3. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)- Have extremely good resistance to oils and provide an excellent barrier to most gases and drop impact resistance. PVC are mostly used in plumbing pipes and guttering, shower curtains, window frames, flooring, salad oils, and mineral oils. 4. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)- LDPE are similar to HDPE in property. It is less rigid and generally less chemically resistant than HDPE. It is mostly used in squeeze applications, floor tiles, shower curtains, clamshell packaging. 5. Polypropylene (PP)- Provide a rigid package with an excellent moisture barrier and have excellent chemical resistance, but provide poor impact resistance in cold temperatures. Mostly
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