essay for recycling plastic

Essay on Recycling for Students and Children

500+ words essay on recycling.

Recycling is a method of procedure that includes the collection and breaking down of waste material to create something new out of it. The process was introduced sot that the non-biodegradable materials can be melted or break down to create something useful. After the effects of global warming and pollution have become known to men the process of recycling has become more important.

Why We Need Recycling?

We need recycling for many reasons. But most importantly, it will help us to save our planet. Besides, recycling saves the earth by facilitating the reprocess of paper which will save millions of trees.

Also, recycling saves a lot of energy because many things that we recycle can easily be converted into virgin materials. In addition, it saves a lot of resources too.

Moreover, recycling reduces the burden of the environment. As we save energy the number of greenhouse gases and oxides are produced in less quantity. Because most of the toxic gases are produced by factories.

In addition, recycling reduces the amount of waste, that takes years to decompose. Also, the recycled material can be sold. We use this recycled material for the manufacturing of many new products. So, ultimately recycling saves money.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

The Process of Recycling

The various materials that we recycle have to go through a process that refines and purifies them. Besides, different materials go through a different process and in this topic we will discuss the recycling process of various materials.

Paper- It is the most used material on the earth. Paper is made up of two materials water and wood. For recycling paper firstly they break it down in small pieces and dissolve it into water. After that, they add chemicals that filter out the ink and dirt from it. In addition after filtering the paper takes the form of a mush called the pulp and this pulp is later converted into clean paper.

Metals-  The metals are first shredded into small pieces and then they were melted and after that remolded into new shapes.

Glass- The recycling of glass is the easier they just break it into pieces and then they melt it and recast them.

Plastic- They also follow the same process as plastic. But, the process of plastic recycling is a little bit complex because they have to sort out the different types of plastics. As there is a diverse variety of plastic with different properties.

How Can We Contribute to Recycling?

Almost everything that we use can be recycled whether it is household materials like paper, plastic, metal, glass, furniture, toys, artifacts, vehicles, etc. Besides, opt for things from the market that can easily be recycled. Also, try to use merchandise that is made up of recycled products.

In addition, sort your waste and dump your recyclable waste in the recycle bin so that the authorities can recycle it.

To Sum it up, recycling is a small step by humans to save the environment . But this small step is very effective in the long run. Also, before throwing away the waste we should check it to see if there is a recyclable product in it or not.

FAQs about Essay on Recycling

Q.1 List some benefits of recycling. A.1 There are many benefits to recycling like:

• It reduces the amount of waste produced by us.
• Conserves natural resources such as water, wood, and minerals.
• It prevents the overuse of resources and helps in preserving them.
• In addition, it saves energy.

Q.2 Give an important fact related to recycling. A.2 An important fact can be that recycling reduces the amount of waste which goes to landfills. Also, lesser density in landfill means less amount of methane and other gases is released into the air.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Recycling — The Impact of Recycling on Sustainability and Waste Reduction

The Impact of Recycling on Sustainability and Waste Reduction

• Categories: Recycling Waste Management

About this sample

Words: 1070 |

Published: Sep 12, 2023

Words: 1070 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Table of contents

Waste reduction and conservation of natural resources, pollution reduction, innovative recycling practices, application across different contexts, 1. using recycled materials, 2. reducing packaging waste, 3. using renewable energy, public policy.

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Essays About Recycling: Top 5 Examples Plus Prompts

Essays about recycling raise awareness regarding the planet’s destruction; see our top essay examples and prompts to create a powerful piece.

An American disposes of about 1,800 pounds of garbage annually into a landfill. To visualize it better, one mature male cow has the same weight. Because there are at least 332 million Americans in the country , it’s no wonder there’s an ongoing problem with garbage disposal. 

Recycling is an excellent way to deal with this dilemma. Through recycling, used materials can be salvaged and reprocessed to create new products. However, there are specific steps to follow to recycle each material the right way. Regardless, recycling helps a lot in the preservation of natural resources and benefits many aspects of human lives.

Below are essay examples to read to know what a great essay about recycling looks like:

1. Essay on Recycling for Students and Children by Anonymous on Toppr.com

2. essay on recycling- concept, benefits & importance of recycling by anonymous on mystudentessays.com, 3. reuse reduce recycle by anonymous on essaykitchen.net, 4. recycling of materials by anonymous in studycorgi, 5. the value of recycling by anonymous on corkwritersgroup.com, 1. my way of recycling, 2. how to recycle, 3. why we should recycle, 4. recycling in different countries, 5. generating income from recycling , 6. why people don’t recycle, 7. if we stop recycling, 8. eco-warrior inspirations.

“…recycling is a small step by humans to save the environment. But this small step is very effective in the long run.”

The author briefly explains what recycling is, ensuring the definition is straightforward so the readers can easily understand it. This essay delves into why recycling is necessary, especially for its role in saving the planet. It also discusses the recycling process, focusing on common materials such as paper and plastic. Finally, the essay concludes with what people can do to participate in recycling.

“Given the fact that we are living in a world that is predominantly surrounded by a host of climate issues. We need to focus [on] recycling for [a] better, safe and clean environment.”

The essay blames overpopulation and industrialization for ruining the environment. It also mentions that recycling is critical to saving the Earth before listing five of its benefits. Finally, the author concludes by urging the readers to do their part in protecting the planet through recycling.

“The importance of reduc[e] reuse recycle is ever-increasing with the rising pollution levels in the world… With so many benefits, the human race needs to realize its significance to save the world for its coming generations.”

After an impactful introduction shifting the readers’ attention to the fact that recycling saves the environment and helps man produce without the need to sacrifice more resources, the essay goes on to explain three other great benefits of this practice. These are: conserving energy, reducing pollution (global warming), and saving money. The writer also demands teaching younger generations about the current environmental problems so they can help the older age group in saving the planet.

“The present world is faced with complex environmental problems, and there is general misinformation on environmental concepts… Advocates of environmental consciousness must strive to stop the complex explanations, and focus more on unvarnished terms which will give Americans an easy description of what is expected of them.”

Acknowledging that both developed and developing countries are affected by waste disposal, the author then looks for the causes. They start by analyzing man’s garbage disposal habits, which weren’t a problem at the beginning of time since most trash was organic. That is until the start of the agricultural revolution, followed by the rapid population increase. The essay shares studies and cites them throughout the piece as the writer discusses relevant points connected to the topic. 

“Recycling is the process of making use of waste or used materials in a more effective manner. Actually, if we want to leave this planet productive and healthy for the future generations, recycling is mandatory or crucial in [the] modern world.”

The writer is adamant about instilling in his readers the reality that recycling is not an option. Instead, it’s a requirement that we must do to keep something for the future. They mention how negligent people are in wasting this planet’s little resources, opening the entire human race to many risks. The essay also mentions recycling’s importance to the environment and the economy, saying it should start at home and, when done by everyone, will make a massive difference to the world. 

You need excellent grammar and syntax to create an engaging and readable piece. See our guide on grammar and syntax to improve your writing.

8 Prompts on Essays About Recycling

Try these prompts to jumpstart your essay writing:

For this writing prompt, talk about what you can do as an individual to help in recycling. It can be the small things, such as segregating reusable materials at home or posting about the benefits of recycling on your social media pages. You can also mention that writing your essay about recycling is a way to contribute to this vital movement by spreading knowledge and awareness.

Many know what recycling is, but not everyone understands the steps they should follow to achieve recycling’s goals. So, in your essay, explain how to recycle correctly. You can also add how recycling can be a fun activity for anyone of all ages. For instance, you can put instructions on how to assemble a bowling game with recycled bottles. Doing so will give family members something to bond over during holidays and weekends. Additionally, interview data or surveys to gather public information on how the average person recycles.

Because there are already many pieces explaining why recycling is essential, make your essay stand out by connecting it to relevant events. For example, you can start your essay with recent news about global warming, such as a severe storm in your area that affected many. Then, link your article to how recycling can help prevent these disasters.

Countries have ways of dealing with scarce resources and executing garbage disposal practices. For this prompt, discuss how different communities recycle their trash. First, discuss the best recycling countries like Germany and South Korea and their practices. Then, pick out what the rest of the world should apply in their recycling regimen.

There are many ways that recycling products can be turned into a business. From selling reusable materials like metals and plastic bottles to opening a vintage clothes store, show the opportunities recycling offers. Don’t forget to add eco-friendly business practices and encourage your readers to support those that promote sustainable living.

Although recycling has many advantages for the environment, some cons prevent everyone from infusing recycling into their everyday lives. Openly discuss the lack of programs educating people on how to recycle, why many think recycling is inconvenient, and other restraints. Remember to include possible solutions to these limits.

In this prompt, create an imaginary scenario where no one recycles. Detail what will happen to the community, environment, and nature. Aside from losing space due to garbage, we’ll also have to deal with health hazards and possibly new diseases. You can also debate a positive sequence, where people may find a way to control garbage through new technologies or operations.

In this essay, discuss a person, business, or organization that is an eco-warrior and inspiration. It can be your school, office, or someone at home. Talk about how they carry out proper recycling, who pushed the ideas to fruition, and what they do with the materials they recycle. You can also comment on what facets of their recycling program you want other places to copy or which parts they could improve. Use anecdotes and research data to support your opinion for a compelling essay.

Read these essay writing tips to use them in your writing.

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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Guest Essay

I’m Appalled by What I Learned About Recycling. But We Can Fix It.

By Oliver Franklin-Wallis

Mr. Franklin-Wallis is the author of “Wasteland: The Secret World of Waste and the Urgent Search for a Cleaner Future” and an editor at GQ.

It happened again the other night: Washing up after dinner, I went to throw out a packet of just-eaten instant tortellini and was flummoxed. It was plastic, sure. But what kind? There was no resin code or recycling symbol on the package. Nothing on the label, either.

Should I throw it in the trash? Recycle it? And if I did, would it even get recycled?

Lately, a number of reports have cast doubt on the very idea of recycling, a habit ingrained in many of us since childhood. Recycling has been called a myth and beyond fixing as we’ve learned that recyclables are being shipped overseas and dumped (true), are leaching toxic chemicals and microplastics (true) and are being used by Big Oil to mislead consumers about the problems with plastics. Packaging companies have used the promise of recyclability to flood the world with disposable and often toxic plastic trash. The consequences are now clear — in the trash, in our rivers and oceans, in the microplastics in our bloodstreams and in the plastic quite literally falling from the sky .

This isn’t the first time that recycling has come under fire — far from it. In fact, the most famous assault on it, “Recycling Is Garbage, ” by John Tierney for The Times Magazine, appeared in 1996. But the latest crisis seems existential. You know it’s bad when the plastics industry feels compelled to create a rebuttal campaign called Recycling Is Real.

Recycling is real. I’ve seen it. For the past four years, I’ve traveled the world writing a book about the waste industry, visiting paper mills and e-waste shredders and bottle plants. I’ve visited all kinds of plastics recycling facilities, from gleaming new factories in Britain to smoky, flake-filled shredding operations in India. While I’ve seen how recycling has become inseparable from corporate greenwashing, we shouldn’t be so quick to cast it aside. In the short term, at least, it might be the best option we have against our growing waste crisis.

One of the most fundamental problems with recycling is that we don’t really know how much of it actually happens because of an opaque global system that too often relies on measuring the material that arrives at the front door of the facility rather than what comes out. What we do know is that with plastics, at least, the amount being recycled is much less than most of us assumed.

You probably throw a milk container in the recycling, put the bins out on collection day and forget about it. But depending on where you are in the United States (or the world), that carton is probably taken to a place to be sorted and graded, baled up with other cartons and shipped off to a recycling facility. Depending on the material in question, that might happen in your home state, or it might happen abroad, in countries like Canada, Mexico, India and Malaysia. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work.

The reality is a different story. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, two of the most commonly used plastics in America — PET (used in soda bottles) and HDPE (used in milk jugs, among other things) — are “widely recycled,” but the rate is really only about 30 percent. Other plastics, like soft wraps and films, sometimes called No. 4 plastics, are not widely accepted in curbside collections. The E.P.A. estimates that just 2.7 percent of polypropylene — the hard plastic known as No. 5, used to make furniture and cleaning bottles — was reprocessed in 2018. Crunch the sums, and only around 10 percent of plastics in the United States is recycled, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

It is worth noting that the landfill-happy United States is far worse at recycling than other major economies. According to the E.P.A., America’s national recycling rate, just 32 percent , is lower than Britain’s 44 percent , Germany’s 48 percent and South Korea’s 58 percent . (Please take all of these figures with a grain of salt.) But just because recycling doesn’t work very well in the United States doesn’t mean it can’t be done well. In fact, the scientific research over decades has repeatedly found that in almost all cases, recycling our waste materials has significant environmental benefits. According to a 2015 analysis by scientists at the University of Southampton in England, recycling a majority of commonly tossed-out waste materials resulted in a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. In the case of aluminum, scrap metals and textiles, the savings were substantial.

Compare recycling with the alternative, which is making the same products from scratch. Recycling steel, for example, saves 72 percent of the energy of producing new steel; it also cuts water use by 40 percent. Recycling a ton of aluminum requires only about 5 percent of the energy and saves almost nine tons of bauxite from being hauled from mines. Even anti-plastics campaigners agree that recycling plastics, like PET, is better for the climate than burning them — a likely outcome if recycling efforts were to be abandoned.

The economic perks are significant, too. Recycling creates as many as 50 jobs for every one created by sending waste to landfills; the E.P.A. estimates that recycling and reuse accounted for 681,000 jobs in the United States alone . That’s even more true in the developing world, where waste pickers rely on recycling for income.

So before we abandon recycling, we should first try to fix it. Companies should be phasing out products that can’t be recycled and designing more products that are easier to recycle and reuse rather than leaving sustainability to their marketing departments. Lawmakers can help by passing new laws, as cities like Seattle and San Francisco have done, to help increase recycling rates and drive investment into the sector.

Governments can also ban or restrict many problematic plastics to reduce the amount of needless plastics in our everyday lives, for instance in food packaging. We need clearer labeling of what is and is not actually recyclable and transparency around true recycling rates. Those are among the many issues currently being debated as part of a United Nations treaty on plastic pollution , a much-needed intervention.

Greater safety regulations are needed to reduce toxic chemical contents and microplastic pollution caused by the recycling process. And consumers can do their bit by buying recycled products (and buying less and reusing more).

For the sake of our planet and our own health, we should all be trying to move away from our disposable excesses. Yes, recycling is broken, but abandon it too soon, and we risk going back to the system of decades past, in which we dumped and burned our garbage without care, in our relentless quest for more. Do that, and like the recycling symbol itself, we really will be going in circles.

Oliver Franklin-Wallis is the author of “ Wasteland : The Secret World of Waste and the Urgent Search for a Cleaner Future” and an editor at GQ.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Recent Advancements in Plastic Packaging Recycling: A Mini-Review

Valentina beghetto.

1 Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, University Ca’Foscari of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Mestre, Italy; [email protected] (R.S.); [email protected] (C.B.); ti.evinu.duts@900078 (M.A.-A.); [email protected] (M.F.)

2 Crossing S.r.l., Viale della Repubblica 193/b, 31100 Treviso, Italy

Roberto Sole

Chiara buranello, marco al-abkal, manuela facchin, associated data.

Not applicable.

Today, the scientific community is facing crucial challenges in delivering a healthier world for future generations. Among these, the quest for circular and sustainable approaches for plastic recycling is one of the most demanding for several reasons. Indeed, the massive use of plastic materials over the last century has generated large amounts of long-lasting waste, which, for much time, has not been object of adequate recovery and disposal politics. Most of this waste is generated by packaging materials. Nevertheless, in the last decade, a new trend imposed by environmental concerns brought this topic under the magnifying glass, as testified by the increasing number of related publications. Several methods have been proposed for the recycling of polymeric plastic materials based on chemical or mechanical methods. A panorama of the most promising studies related to the recycling of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polystyrene (PS) is given within this review.

1. Introduction

In recent years, the health of our planet has become a problem of crucial importance, with plastic recovery and disposal being of primary relevance [ 1 ].

Since the introduction of Bakelite in 1907 by Leo H. Baekeland, the first fully synthetic polymer, the plastic industry has evolved to revolutionize the way we live [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ].

Polymers and plastic products own their well-known ubiquity and massive use to their excellent chemical–physical properties, which guarantee light weight, low price, and endurance [ 6 ]. Thanks to their great versatility, plastics are among the most used materials and find applications in many industrial sectors such as packaging, automotive vehicles, construction, and electronic devices [ 1 , 7 , 8 ]. Worldwide, over 360 Mt of fossil-based polymers are produced yearly, with an annual growth rate of 8.4%, two times higher than world global gross growth rate of production over the same period [ 5 ] ( Figure 1 a). The European plastic converter demand in 2018 reached 51.2 Mt, mainly to produce polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polystyrene (PS) ( Figure 1 b). These are mainly employed for packaging (39.9%), construction (19.8%), automotive vehicles (9.9%), and electronic devices (6.2%) [ 9 ] ( Figure 1 c).

( a ) World polymer production in metric tons; ( b ) distribution of main polymers produced; ( c ) 2018 European plastic converter demand and use.

A gradual switch to biobased plastics has been witnessed by the increasing use at an industrial level of alternative raw materials [ 10 , 11 ] such as polylactic acid (PLA) [ 12 ], polybutyl succinate (PBS) [ 13 , 14 ], polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) [ 15 , 16 , 17 ], and polyethylene furanoate (PEF) [ 18 , 19 , 20 ], together with different composite materials produced from starch [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], CMC [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], wood [ 31 , 32 ], lignin [ 33 , 34 ], and many different agro-industrial wastes [ 35 , 36 , 37 ].

Nevertheless, 99% of plastics produced today are fossil-based polymers, and they will continue to play an important role in many manufacturing compartments for a long time. In fact, according to the 2020 European Bioplastics report, the EU total production capacity of biopolymers is expected to reach 2.45 Mt by 2024 ( Figure 2 ), which is far lower than the plastic market needs [ 38 ].

Projection of world global production capacity of bioplastics by 2024.

The large gap between market demand and biobased plastics available today clearly shows the complexity of the problem and that all alternatives to approach the problem of plastic use and recycling must be pursued to reduce the environmental impact of polymers and plastic waste. In a recent article by Mendes and coworkers, the benefits of the use of bioplastics for the packaging industry were analyzed with the intent of delivering a guide for the design of more sustainable packaging to food packaging designers and producers [ 39 ]. The authors concluded that, from a climate point, the use of biobased plastics contributes to the generation of more sustainable food packaging compared to fossil-based ones; however, on the other hand, the relevance of some environmental problems originating from biobased plastics, such as eutrophication, use of water and pesticides, and effects on biodiversity, significantly reduces their environmental benefits.

Additionally, fossil-based plastics are generally scantly biodegradable and accumulate in the environment, posing serious waste management problems. Over the last 65 years, approximately 8300 Mt of fossil-based polymers were produced, 4900 Mt of which were landfilled, incinerated, or dispersed in the environment [ 5 , 40 ]. Thus, oceans, animals, and humans are inevitably exposed to different sources of contamination from plastic waste [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ]. Climate changes, environmental modifications, and health pandemics are becoming more and more frequent, showing that humanity will have to rethink its unsustainable growth [ 47 , 48 ] by adopting a circular economy approach to resource consumption through eco-design, recovery, and recycling of polymeric materials with an integrated approach [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. Circular economy is pushing toward a radical change in production and waste management to reduce water, waste, and energy consumption and to achieve zero-waste manufacturing cycles [ 10 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ]. In this frame, European countries have developed different waste management systems and recycling techniques [ 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ]. Nevertheless, a great part of post-consumer managed plastic is currently sent to incineration or landfill, while mismanaged waste is either discarded into the environment or is inadequately disposed of, potentially ending up in the ocean [ 46 ]. From 2006 to 2018, the amount of recycled post-consumer plastic waste doubled, reaching 32.5% (29.1 Mt), while 42.6% was used for energy production and 24.9% was landfilled [ 9 ] ( Figure 3 ).

Reuse of recovered post-consumer plastic waste.

In 2018, 5 Mt of plastic waste was recycled in Europe, 80% of which re-entered the EU as secondary materials, while the remaining 20% was exported outside the EU. The main industrial uses of recycled plastics in the EU are building and construction (46%), packaging (24%), agricultural applications (13%), and others (17%) [ 9 ].

Plastics may be subdivided into three categories: plastics in use, managed post-consumer plastic waste, and mismanaged plastic waste [ 65 , 66 ]. Managed plastic waste is generally disposed of by recycling, although a substantial gap exists between the quantity of plastic produced each year and the quantity of plastic thrown away since, depending on the type of product, there will be different storage and use times. Packaging products end their lifecycle generally in less than 1 year, while materials used for the construction and transport industry may last much longer. This means that the amount of waste produced each year is less than the amount of plastic in use. In 2015, 407 Mt of primary plastic entered the use phase, while only 307 Mt exited the use phase, with a consequent increase of 100 Mt of plastic in use [ 5 ].

According to the literature, it was estimated that, in 2010, between 4.8 and 12.7 Mt of plastics were leached into the ocean, predicting that, with inadequate waste management strategies, these numbers will increase by an order of magnitude by 2025 [ 46 , 67 ]. On this note, in January 2018, the European Commission issued the “European strategy for plastics in a circular economy” [ 68 ], including the ambitious target to make all plastics in EU recyclable by 2030. Soon after, in March 2018, China banned imports of plastic, generating a decrease in plastic waste export from EU of 39%, thereby overloading the EU waste management system and incinerators [ 65 , 69 ].

To reduce the amount of plastic waste disposed in landfills or incinerated, there are two main strategies: the use of biodegradable biobased plastics (as mentioned above) [ 38 , 70 ] and recycling [ 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 ]. It should be reaffirmed that not all biobased polymers are biodegradable, while some fossil-based ones are, as clearly reported in Figure 4 .

Examples of biobased and fossil-based polymers subdivided into biodegradable and not biodegradable.

Moreover, the recovery and recycling of biobased polymers is a relatively new issue and is still the object of studies compared to fossil-based polymers [ 39 , 75 ]; thus, different strategies will need to be put in place to implement the environmental sustainability of polymer manufacturing and recycling. According to the recent Circular Economy Package EU legislation and a paper by Briassoulis and coworkers, mechanical recycling is the best alternative for the valorization of both post-consumer fossil-based and biobased polymer waste, followed by chemical recycling [ 75 , 76 ].

The topic of sustainable manufacturing of plastics and packaging is so important that, from a research on Google Scholar using as key words “sustainable plastics”, “recycled plastic”, and “plastic recycling techniques”, a total of almost 95,000 papers were published between 2019 and 2021. This mini-review intends to give an outlook on different mechanical and chemical recycling techniques, giving a general panorama of the state of the art and recent innovative solutions by focusing mainly on papers published in the last 12 months relevant to plastic packaging. The scope of the work is to give a general overview of most recent technologies for the recycling of post-consumer packaging waste (PP, LDPE, HDPE, PET, and PS) to be used as secondary materials for the manufacturing of different materials. Since it is possible that the EU will implement plastic recycling up to 100% by 2050, avoiding the use of virgin naphtha for its production, the use of plastic waste as a source of energy seems bound to assume a minor importance in the future, while recycling of polymers to produce high-value products will be of strategic importance. For this reason, techniques to produce energy from plastic waste will not be discussed in this mini-review. The authors believe that a good understanding of the possible alternatives to plastic recycling and valorization, together with the difficulties encountered in sorting and reprocessing of post-consumer plastic waste, should help the industry, as well as end users, to adopt more responsible behavior and, consequently, promote the introduction of environmentally sustainable solutions.

2. Overview of Plastic Recycling Techniques

The word recycling refers to a set of modifications and transformations (mechanical treatment, chemical treatment, or heating) required to recover feedstock from a previously processed polymer which can be reused by the industry [ 73 , 77 , 78 ]. Plastic recycling methods available today are classified in primary to quaternary processes [ 79 , 80 ] ( Scheme 1 ).

Specifically, primary processes allow recovering and recycling pre-consumer or pure polymers which can be reused for the same scope. Secondary processes start from recovered post-consumer polymeric waste, which is sorted, trimmed, and re-extruded, giving a product with reduced physical–mechanical characteristics compared to the starting polymer, which in most cases cannot be reused for the same scope. Primary and secondary recycling represents physical processes that can be repeated several times. Tertiary processes adopt chemical recycling starting from polymers which may no longer undergo mechanical recycling, while quaternary ones are used for energy production. Polymers and plastics sent to landfill (end-of-life plastics) lose their value and become waste.

Different techniques adopted for plastic waste separation, processing, and possible reuse as secondary materials depend on the type of waste recovered. A first important distinction should be made between thermoplastic and thermoset polymers. Thermoplastics are usually processed by extrusion, as these polymers melt when heated and harden when cooled. A great advantage of thermoplastics is that the extrusion process can be repeated many times. The most used thermoplastics are PP, PET, LDPE, HDPE, PVC, and PS. Adversely, thermosets may not be reprocessed by extrusion since, when heated, an irreversible chemical reaction takes place. Main thermoset plastics are polyurethanes (PUR), resins (epoxy, phenol-formaldehyde, and polyester), and vulcanized rubber, widely used by the automotive and electronic industry. The most abundant polymers in post-consumer waste are polyolefins (PP, LDPE, HDPE, PET, and PS) used for packaging [ 58 , 81 , 82 ], with a consumption of over 23 Mt only in the EU in 2020.

3. Primary and Secondary Recycling

Mechanical recycling is the main and most widely used technology for plastic recycling, consisting of several steps, including collection, screening, automatic or manual sorting, washing, shredding, extrusion, and granulation [ 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 ] ( Scheme 2 ). Mechanical recycling is classified as primary or secondary according to the type of starting material being processed. Primary recycling gives the highest-quality recycled polymers and starts from closed-loop recycled products such as PET bottles or byproducts collected by manufacturing industries as pre-consumer well-separated material.

Secondary processes instead recover post-consumer plastics and, therefore, generate lower-quality polymers. It must nevertheless be considered that, from an economic standpoint, these processes have a reduced complexity and overall limited costs, generating significant income and reduced CO 2 production. According to the Ellen MacArthur foundation report, plastic production and incineration of plastic waste are estimated to produce over 400 Mt of CO 2 yearly [ 87 , 88 ]. Thus, recycled plastics can reduce fossil-fuel consumption and CO 2 emissions. According to estimates by Rahimi and coworkers [ 89 ], the adoption of plastic waste recycling worldwide would allow saving about 3.5 million barrels of oil each year.

Mechanical recycling generally includes four main steps: (i) screening and sorting; (ii) shredding; (iii) washing and drying; (iv) melting and reprocessing ( Scheme 2 ).

Screening and sorting of plastic waste is a fundamental step for the recyclability of the different plastics and the quality of the final polymer. This step is challenging, considering that the separation of mixed plastic waste often involves the combined use of different technologies [ 90 , 91 ].

To achieve an adequate separation of a specific polymer within a flow stream containing many different components (plastics, as well as metals, paper, organic residues, and dirt), characteristics of the final product must be accurately considered such as purity and destination. This will allow defining the best separation strategy to achieve high selection. Important properties commonly employed for plastic separation are magnetic or electric properties, particle size, density, and color. Relying on these properties, many different separation techniques have been developed such as dry or wet gravity separation, electronic or magnetic density separation, flotation, and sensor-based sorting together with auxiliary segregation techniques such as magnetic or eddy-current separation. These segregation methods are briefly described, mainly focusing on recently implemented technologies for PE, PP, PET, and PS recovery.

Gravity separation is a consolidated methodology that may be carried out in a dry environment (dry process) or in the presence of water (wet process) [ 63 , 92 ] ( Figure 5 a). Dry segregation techniques employ air classifiers or ballistic separators in which air is used as the medium to separate lighter materials from heavier ones. They can be positioned at the beginning of the process or at the end, to segregate end-of-life plastics from main plastic streams ( Figure 5 b). Wet gravity separation includes sink and float, jigging, and hydrocyclone techniques.

( a ) Different methodologies of gravity separation; ( b ) dry segregation; ( c ) sink and float separation; ( d ) hydrocycloning; ( e ) eddy current separator.

With sink and float separation, polymers are separated into two different streams depending on whether they have a higher or lower density than water. Materials such as PET, PVC, and PS will sink, while others such as PE, PP, and expanded polystyrene will float ( Figure 5 c). This type of separation guarantees an effective first separation, but it is not adequate to produce high-quality secondary materials and needs to be combined with other separation techniques [ 93 , 94 , 95 ].

Zhang and coworkers developed a pretreatment of PET via preliminary NaOH and ethanol hydrolysis to promote plastic flotation. Optimal conditions allowed the quantitative recovery of highly pure PET fractions [ 96 ].

Heidarpour and coworkers reported the influence of microwave irradiation in the presence of chemical additives such as PEG-400, methylcellulose, or tannic acid on the float–sink behavior of polyoxymethylene, polycarbonate, and polyvinyl alcohol. According to this study, microwave irradiation reduced the contact angle values of tested plastic surface in the presence of chemical additives (depressant) by implementing their sink–float separation capacity, thereby increasing their hydrophilicity [ 97 ]. The authors mention the possibility of using this technology for whichever plastic material.

Jigging is one of the oldest gravity separation techniques and is similar to dry gravity methods where, in most cases, water is used instead of air [ 90 , 94 ]. A water stream is pushed up and down by pistons, and plastics are separated mainly depending on their morphological and physical characteristics.

Hydrocycloning is based on centrifugal and centripetal forces together with the fluid resistance of different materials processed ( Figure 5 d). New trends in hydrocycloning separation focus especially on the recovery of precious metals from electronic device waste [ 98 , 99 ], and it seems to be a very valuable tool for more sustainable separation of plastic waste from metals.

The eddy current separator is made of a high-speed magnetic rotor which generates an electric current, the so-called eddy current, used to remove nonferrous metals (aluminum and copper) from waste plastic, glass, and paper, among others ( Figure 5 e) [ 100 ]. These separators are generally located at the beginning of the recycling process.

With a separator and drum screen, plastics are fed into a large rotating drum where materials are separated by size, thanks to holes in the drum, so that only smaller particles pass through and are separated from larger ones.

Different gravity segregation methods were analyzed by Nie and coworkers for the sustainable recovery and recycling of high-value metals from waste printed circuit board (WPCBs) [ 101 ]. This study analyzed the dynamics and statics of gravity concentration methods. The settling velocity of three kind of particles was studied, demonstrating that the stratification by density is spontaneous and can achieve the lowest potential energy. The concentration of differently sized metal particles could be effectively enriched, and the metal purity increased from 56.5% to 68.2% for decreasing particle size, albeit with a modest decrease in yield (from 86.41% to 83.04%). No recent papers were found for the use of innovative solutions for the recovery of PE, PP, PET, or PS by jigging, hydrocycloning, eddy current separation, and drum and different gravity segregation techniques, but they were reported to give a general overview of different separation technologies available.

Optical sensors are used for the characterization of plastic stream in a continuous manner where air jets allow for separation. Optical sensors may be subdivided in molecular spectroscopies and atomic spectroscopies [ 102 ], the prevalently used Raman spectroscopy (RS) [ 103 ], Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) [ 96 ], near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) [ 104 ], and terahertz spectroscopy (THz) [ 105 ], and elemental spectroscopies such as laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) [ 106 ] and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRFS) [ 102 ].

Bobulski and coworkers implemented new portable devices for computer image recognition in combination with artificial intelligence for waste recognition and easy municipal waste separation. The devices were used both at home and in waste sorting plants, and they could be a very useful tool for an efficient and economically sustainable separation of plastic waste stream [ 107 ].

Most companies use a combination of different separation techniques to obtain sufficiently pure polymers from post-consumer plastic waste. The purity of the finished product depends on an adequate compromise between costs and benefits, and this leads to purities ≤95% which require further separation and purification steps. Sorting technologies reported above are generally inadequate for the separation of complex materials such as multilayered packaging or fiber-reinforced composites; therefore, these materials are generally incinerated for energy recovery or landfilled as end-of-life plastics.

Innovative recycling methods such as selective polymer dissolution were demonstrated to be efficient in extracting different polymers and fibers from multilayered films and composite materials [ 108 ]. In fact, Knappich and coworkers reported the efficient recovery and recyclability of epoxy and polyurethane resins from carbon fiber-reinforced plastics with different proprietary CreaSolv ® formulations at a laboratory scale.

Multi-material plastic waste separation technologies are also being developed to enable a proper sorting of composites, which will generate new value streams to recover and recycle plastics which are today incinerated or landfilled [ 109 ]. Many approaches have been tested, for example, for the separation of polyester from cotton fibers to recycle textile waste. Solvent-based technologies are an interesting solution, with the possibility of selecting specific solvents which may solubilize either cotton or polyesters [ 110 ]. A crucial aspect for industrial success and applicability is the nature of the solvent in terms of volatility, flammability, toxicity, and recyclability [ 111 ].

Once the mechanical separation is complete, the materials are shredded by passing them through a system of rotating blades. The obtained flakes are then sorted by size with a grid, washed and dried, made ready for reprocessing by extrusion or agglomeration, and sold.

Agglomeration is generally used to reprocess plastic films which are cut in small pieces, heated by friction and water-cooled. The agglomerates are usually combined into plastic flakes and pelletized by extrusion. Agglomeration is highly energy-consuming and, therefore, less widespread [ 90 ].

Extrusion remains the most widely used method for processing both virgin and recycled plastic. Plastic flakes are fed into the extruder and pushed by a screw into a heated cylinder, thus melting the plastic. At the end of the extruder, a pelletizer cools and cuts the final polymer into pellets.

Both shredding and extrusion may lead to partial degradation of the polymer due to chain scission and thermo-oxidative reactions, reducing the polymer chain length and, consequently, its mechanical properties [ 112 , 113 ]. Moreover, impurities deriving from other packaging components further contribute to the diminished physical–mechanical characteristics of reprocessed plastics [ 104 ].

A detailed study was published by Eriksen and coworkers on the thermal degradation, processability, and mechanical properties of re-extruded PET, PE, and PP from post-consumer waste. PET is well suited for closed-loop recycling to meet bottle and food-grade PET quality, although moisture control is a key requirement when reprocessing PET into products. For this polymer, degradation, which generally occurs during recycling by extrusion, may be avoided by careful decontamination. The quality of reprocessed PE samples from non-food bottles strongly depends on the presence of impurities from other polymers and from lids and labels. PE reprocessing by extrusion suggested that closed-loop recycling may be achieved with selected PE bags with low levels of polymer cross-contamination. Adversely, PP reprocessed by extrusion showed low mechanical properties with large variations in impact strength, reducing possible applications of reprocessed PP. Thus, the heterogeneity of PP waste, even if food packaging is managed separately, as well as polymer degradation during recycling, represents crucial limitations for PP waste recycling [ 114 ].

A possible remedy to downgrading due to extrusion was reported for the first time by Wang and coworkers. The authors reported a process to modify polyolefins from post-consumer plastic waste via a one-step radical grafting and cross-linking process, producing covalent adaptable networks or CANs [ 112 ]. This procedure relies on the functionalization of polyolefins with polar reagents, which modify the properties of the starting material, thus imparting new characteristics such as wettability, printability, and compatibility with other polymers. Upcycling of LDPE from plastic bags was achieved by free-radical reaction in a twin-screw extruder in the presence of maleic anhydride and butanediol. PE-CANs showed higher solvent resistance, tensile strength, and modulus compared to virgin PE due to the presence of cross-linking bonds generated during the extrusion process. Upcycling of post-consumer plastic waste by reactive extrusion is an interesting area of research which will surely receive much attention in the future; however, characteristics of CAN polymers must be acquired to define new possible manufacturing applications [ 115 ].

4. Chemical Depolymerization

In addition to mechanical methods, recycling can be performed via chemical depolymerization [ 111 , 116 ].

Chemical recycling has great potential in the circular economy of plastics; it can close the loop by producing starting monomers from the polymers that may be reprocessed to produce high-value-added chemicals [ 70 ]. It is estimated that, by 2050, almost 60% of plastic production can be based on recycled products [ 117 ]. Millions of euros are being invested to enhance chemical recycling and other cutting-edge technological solutions with the aim of producing 1.2 Mt of recycled plastic in EU by 2025 and 3.4 Mt by 2030 [ 9 ].

Chemical recycling methods are classified according to reaction conditions into solvolysis (hydrolysis, methanolysis, and glycolysis), catalytic depolymerization, and enzymatic depolymerization [ 83 , 84 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 ]. Only main innovative solutions devised in the last year for plastic packaging chemical recycling are analyzed below i.e., PE, PP, PET, and PS.

4.1. Solvolysis

Solvolysis involves the breaking of the hydrolyzable bonds of a polymer in the presence of an alcohol or water. It is rather frequent that, to improve reaction conditions, product selectivity, and yield, catalysts are used to promote solvolysis reactions [ 83 , 84 , 119 , 128 ].

4.1.1. Hydrolysis

Hydrolysis reactions perform better from an environmental point of view but require higher energy consumption compared to other solvolysis methods [ 129 ]. They may be carried out in neutral, acidic, or alkaline conditions.

Neutral hydrolysis of PET has long been known and is generally processed in the molten phase, at temperatures above 245 °C with a water/PET ( w / w ) ratio above 5.1/1. A further improvement in the rate of the reaction may be achieved via the addition of catalytic amounts of alkali metal acetates, organophosphorus compounds, or zeolites [ 128 ]. Recently, Colnik and coworkers reported hydrolytic recycling of colorless and colored PET bottles in sub- and supercritical water with temperatures between 250 and 400 °C, in 1 to 30 min. Highest yields in terephthalic acid (TPA) were achieved at 300 °C in 30 min with purities near to 100% [ 130 ] ( Scheme 3 ).

Interestingly, according to the work by Stanica-Ezeanu and coworkers, sea salt is an efficient neutral catalyst promoting PET degradation; by means of a mathematical model, it was estimated that, in tropical regions, only 72 years are necessary for spontaneous complete degradation of PET to occur [ 131 ].

Acid hydrolysis of PET proceeds by polymer dissolution in concentrated acids (H 2 SO 4 , H 3 PO 4 , and HNO 3 ) and heating, leading to chain fragmentation at high temperature.

These processes have not been, to the best of our knowledge, the object of recent studies, probably due to their low environmental sustainability; therefore, they are not further discussed in this review.

Alkali-promoted glycolysis of PET has been widely reported using both inorganic and organic bases [ 132 ]. Due to the high quantities of alkali required and consequent environmental impact of the process, in this case, no innovative solutions were found in recent publications.

4.1.2. Methanolysis

Methanol is widely used and is effective for the solvolysis of various polymers such as PET, polyamides, and polycarbonates. The majority of post-consumer recovered PET is currently reprocessed by mechanical recycling; however, this process leads to molar mass reduction and a consequent reduction in the physical–mechanical properties of the polymer, which is generally used to produce carpets (72%) [ 70 ], along with a small percentage of PET for bottle production [ 129 ]. Moreover, the commercial appeal of mechanical recycled PET depends on the price of oil; thus, when oil is available at prices below $65 per barrel, mechanically recycled PET is no longer competitive [ 70 ]. Chemical depolymerization to produce high-quality monomers and oligomers may be a solution to this problem.

The primary scope of PET chemical recycling is to regenerate TPA, dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET), and ethylene glycol (EG) [ 133 ] or other chemical substances [ 134 , 135 ] ( Scheme 3 ).

Methanolysis of PET is generally a degradation process performed at high temperatures (180–280 °C) and pressures (2–4 MPa), and the major products are DMT and EG [ 70 , 129 ], with high capital and operating costs. Recently, Pham and coworkers [ 124 ] developed a low-energy catalyzed methanolysis to convert PET into DMT at room temperature in the presence of K 2 CO 3 as a catalyst. Despite the overall reaction time of 24 h, PET resins were completely decomposed into monomers with high selectivity in DMT with 93.1% yield at 25 °C. 2-Hydroxyethyl methyl terephthalate (HEMT) and monomethyl terephthalate (MMT) were the major byproducts collected after the reaction ( Scheme 4 ).

Myren and coworkers described a new method for methanolysis of post-consumer PET waste in the presence of NaOH carried out in a microwave or electrochemical reactors. Under mild reaction conditions (85 °C, 40 min) overall yields in TPA of 65% were achieved under microwave irradiation [ 136 ].

Barnard and coworkers published a review in 2021 evaluating advantages and disadvantages of chemical recycling of PET based on the energy economy coefficient and environmental energy impact. Different technologies evaluated comprised neutral, acidic, or alkaline hydrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis, solvolysis, glycolysis, and aminolysis. From the comparison of data collected, alcoholysis was the most energetically expensive process; moreover, the low boiling point of alcohols generally requires high-pressure reactors. On the contrary, methanolysis carried out in the presence of a nanodispersion of ZnO was found to be the least energetically expensive process for PET degradation, giving high-quality DMT [ 129 , 137 ].

Additionally, Zhang and coworkers proposed a novel, simple and economic hydrophilic modification of PET by surface alcoholysis in the presence of ethanol and a sodium hydroxide water solution, which influenced the wettability of PET and promoted sink–float separation from hydrophobic PS, PVC, and PMMA [ 96 ].

Another very interesting example of the methanolysis of PET was achieved in the presence of an organocatalyst prepared from very simple reagents such as tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide and dimethyl carbonate, [NMe 4 ] + [OCO 2 Me] − , achieving good yields of DMT (≤75%) in mild reaction conditions (100 °C and 4 wt.% organocatalyst) [ 138 ]. Nevertheless, long reaction times (16 h), solvents, and product purification were necessary. Alternatively, imidazolium metal-based ionic liquids (ILs) can achieve a comparable or even better performance than [NMe 4 ] + [OCO 2 Me] − [ 139 ]. Main ILs reported in the literature are depicted in Figure 6 .

Main ILs reported in literature.

4.1.3. Glycolysis

Glycolysis was also verified to be a promising alternative with moderate energy and environmental impact [ 129 ]. Glycolysis produces the BHET monomer, which is a good starting material for PET upcycling. As reported by Lalhmangaihzuala and coworkers, glycolysis of post-consumer PET waste may be efficiently promoted by heterogenous catalysts prepared from orange peel ash. Total depolymerization of PET was detected within 90 min, producing BHET in 79% yield. The catalysts were recovered up to five times without significant deactivation. This study opens the way to a highly environmentally sustainable approach to post-consumer plastic waste recycling [ 127 ].

Organocatalyst-assisted glycolysis is considered a new frontier for a green approach to plastic recycling in comparison to conventional organometallic complexes [ 138 , 140 ]. Wang and coworkers [ 141 ] reported a very promising study on the glycolysis of PET using 1,3-dimethylimidazolium-2-carboxylate as an organocatalyst, achieving complete depolymerization in less than 1 h at 180 °C, with up to 60% yield in BHET recovered by precipitation from the reaction mixture upon cooling.

Alternatively, Fuentes and coworkers reported the glycolysis of PET bottles to BHET in the presence of catalytic amounts of different metal oxides (ZnO, CoO) obtained for the recycling of spent alkaline and lithium-ion batteries. Reactions were carried out in EG at approximately 200 °C for 2 h; in the best conditions, yields of the BHET reached 80% [ 126 ].

Functionalization of silica-coated, magnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles, with an iron-containing ionic liquid, was recently employed for the glycolysis of PET to BHET. The advantage of these catalysts is in their high recyclability and ease of recovery due to their magnetic properties, and no traces of metals were found in the final products [ 142 ].

4.1.4. Aminolysis

While aminolysis presents the best energy and environmental parameters, the use of ammonium-based ionic liquids makes the production process more expensive [ 129 , 143 , 144 ]. The high temperatures involved in aminolysis are compensated for by very low depolymerization times due to increased reaction speed. Adversely, depolymerization by aminolysis of PET produces terephthalamides which have limited industrial applications. Different amines such as monoethanolamine (MEA) have been used for the aminolysis of PET with and without catalysts such as metal salts, quaternary ammonium compounds, and ionic liquids [ 145 ] ( Scheme 5 ).

Catalyst-free, microwave-assisted aminolysis of PET proved to be an efficient method for the recovery of different terephthalamides starting from allylamine, ethanolamine, furfurylamine, or hexylamine with high selectively and yields. Terephthalamides were employed to produce good quality films [ 123 ]. Furthermore, aminolytic upcycling of PET post-consumer waste was achieved in the presence of different amino-alcohols in the presence of various organocatalysts to give diol terephthalamides, which were employed to produce poly(ester-amides) [ 146 ].

4.2. Catalytic Depolymerization

Plastic depolymerization may be carried out in the presence of different catalysts such as strong mineral acids, bases, organocatalysts, enzymes, and metal catalysts in homogeneous or heterogeneous phase [ 147 ].

4.2.1. Enzymatic Catalysis

To date, the enzymatic activity of various microbial and fungal species has been tested for the degradation of various polymers [ 148 , 149 ]. As with chemical degradation, the major difficulty in the enzyme degradation of polymers such as PE and PP derives from their high hydrophobicity, stability, and inertness, and their reactivity may be implemented by UV or thermal oxidation pretreatments [ 150 ]. While PE and PP enzymatic degradation is still a very challenging topic, numerous hydrolytic enzymes have been identified and are efficient for PET degradation [ 151 ]. PET hydrolases represent one of the most recent breakthroughs in the depolymerization of post-consumer PET, allowing the recovery of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol at industrial relevant scale [ 120 ]. Interestingly, Sadler and coworkers developed an innovative enzyme-catalyzed post-consumer PET hydrolysis with engineered Escherichia coli to produce vanillin [ 134 ].

These new technologies once more highlight the importance of the development of specifically devised new microorganisms and enzymes for plastic depolymerization. In this connection, Santacruz Juarez and coworkers reported the use of molecular docking simulation to predict affinity, strength, and binding energy between two molecules to analyze the activity of laccase (Lac), manganese peroxidase (MnP), lignin peroxidase (LiP), and unspecific peroxygenase (UnP), thereby helping in the development of new enzymes [ 152 ]. Data achieved showed that synergic enzymatic combination, as it normally happens in nature, boosts the catalytic efficiency by promoting sequential degradation processes. The use of microorganisms and enzymes has been widely studied with the intent to find an environmentally sustainable solution to microplastic and nanoplastic contamination. Taghavi reviewed the state of the art of plastic packaging biodegradation by living microorganisms reporting mechanisms of action, advantages, limitations, and technology readiness levels (TRL). The focus of this very important research area is a reduction in plastic pollution in the environment more so than its recovery and reuse; thus, it is not further analyzed in this paper [ 148 ].

4.2.2. Hydrogenolysis

Hydrogenolysis is widely employed for the depolymerization of PET in the presence of hydrogen and homogeneous Milstein-type Ru–PNN complexes which are highly reactive toward the C=O double bonds of PET to give 4-benzenedimethanol (BDM) in 99% yield at 160 °C in 48 h ( Table 1 , entry 1), while they are ineffective in the presence of PP and PE [ 147 , 153 , 154 , 155 ]. More complex phosphine ligands have also been tested, but the economic viability on an industrial scale seems to be rather limited [ 147 ] ( Table 1 , entries 2–3).

Phosphine ligands of Milstein-type Ru–PNN complexes.

1 Selectivity to BDM. 2 Selectivity to BTX.

Two very important studies have been published on the efficient conversion of post-consumer PET to benzene, toluene, and xylenes by reportedly “unlocking hidden hydrogen in the ethylene glycol part” with Ru/Nb 2 O 5 catalyst [ 156 , 157 ]. The hydrogen is formed in situ during the reaction from ethylene glycol, and it appears that, in the presence of Ru/Nb 2 O 5 , two different pathways (decarboxylation and hydrogenolysis) compete to determine the selectivity toward alkyl-aromatic compounds ( Table 1 , entries 4–5) [ 156 ].

Solventless hydrolysis of PET bottles to TPA and ethylene has been selectively achieved by a carbon-supported single-site molybdenum-dioxo catalyst under 260 °C and 1 atmosphere of H 2 with 87% yield. The catalyst exhibits high stability and can be recycled many times without loss of activity [ 158 ].

Hydrogenolysis of PET to liquid alkanes has been carried out under mild reaction conditions using ruthenium nanoparticles supported on carbon (Ru/C). Under optimal reaction conditions (200 °C, 20 bar H 2 , 16 h), PE was converted into liquid n -alkanes with 45% yield [ 159 ]. Another SnPt/γ-Al 2 O 3 and Re 2 O 7 /γ-Al 2 O 3 heterogeneous catalyst was used to produce linear alkanes from HDPE. This type of catalyst promotes a tandem reaction via which poorly reactive aliphatic substrates are first activated through dehydrogenation and then functionalized or cleaved by a highly active olefin catalyst [ 160 ].

These technologies are particularly attractive from an industrial point of view as heterogeneous catalysts are generally easier to use and economically more sustainable than homogeneous ones.

4.2.3. Hydrosilylation

Hydrosilylation carried out in the presence of different silanes (tetramethyldisiloxane and polymethylhydrosiloxane) and borane or Ir catalysts has also been tested in the past for the depolymerization of PET, PS, and PVC [ 161 ]. Probably because of the high cost of reagents and Ir catalysts, combined with low yields in monomers recovered, no similar studies were published in the last 12 months. An interesting alternative was proposed by Fernandes and coworkers in 2020 for the depolymerization of PET by silanes and an air-stable, cost-effective dioxomolybdenum complex, MoO 2 Cl 2 (H 2 O) 2 . Although reaction conditions are rather harsh (160 °C, 4 days), very good yields in p -xylene were achieved for the reductive depolymerization of PET (65% yield) in the presence of 5 wt.% MoO 2 Cl 2 (H 2 O) 2 and six equivalents of phenylsilane. In another study, Fernandes described the first example of reductive hydrosilylation of PET and other plastic waste using an economically and environmentally sustainable Zn catalyst, Zn(OAc) 2 ·2H 2 O, to produce high-value-added compounds such as 1,2-propanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, tetrahydrofuran, and p -xylene. In the same reaction conditions, in the presence of Mo oxides, yields in p -xylene were equivalent while higher yields in EG were obtained (43%) [ 162 ]. Much work surely needs to be done to implement these technologies to industrial maturity, but the use of highly available, environmentally friendly catalysts is a great advantage and should be further pursued.

5. Thermal Recycling

Thermal recycling mainly comprises pyrolysis, hydrocracking, and gasification ( Scheme 6 ) [ 163 ]. Since there are no recent advancements for gasification, only pyrolysis and hydrocracking are reported. An outline of the main innovative solutions recently published is reported below.

5.1. Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis, or thermal cracking, is a process that occurs at high temperatures (500 °C) and in the absence of oxygen. Different kinds of catalysts can be used to improve the efficiency of the pyrolysis process since they target a specific reaction and reduce the process temperature and time [ 164 ]. Unlike other thermochemical conversion methods, pyrolysis leads to liquid or wax mixtures rich in hydrocarbons, an ideal raw material for a refinery [ 165 ]. Thermal pyrolysis is typically used for the recycling of those polymers for which depolymerization is harsh and that are not currently mechanically recyclable (PE/PP/PS mixtures, multilayer packaging, and reinforced fibers). Thanks to the high temperatures, it guarantees molecular bond breaking in the polymer chains to give, depending on the nature of the polymer, depolymerization or random fragmentation [ 122 , 166 ]. Alternatively, catalytic pyrolysis can be performed on the same polymers at lower temperatures by carbocation formation and subsequent isomerization [ 161 ]. Both thermal and catalytic pyrolysis approaches are not selective, but advantages rely on high conversions, thermal stability of the products and, in some cases, high-value enriched oil production. Pyrolysis, therefore, is an interesting recycling approach for a safe circular economy [ 161 , 166 ].

Pyrolysis must be preceded by pretreatment of the plastic waste, to ensure that it is not contaminated by non-plastic materials such as metal and wood. This step is necessary to ensure the economic feasibility of the plastic-to-fuel (PTF) plant, and it can usually be achieved by sorting, crushing, or sieving depending on the origin of the waste. Since pretreatment techniques are consolidated methodologies, no innovative methods were reported in the last year.

Another important aspect derives from different sources of plastic processed which may be different in shape and size, requiring to be uniformly sized as grains before feeding into the pyrolysis process. This step adds an extra cost to the process.

Depending on the type of reactor, the pre-sizing step can be skipped or modified. For example, rotary kilns can accommodate differently sized and shaped plastics; hence, the pre-sizing step can be avoided. Fluidized bed reactors, instead, need to have uniform thermodynamics in the reactor; therefore, plastic waste should be evenly sized. To cope with this challenge, several feeding devices have been tested [ 166 ].

Currently, the study of catalytic pyrolysis is very active, and a wide range of synthetic catalysts have been employed to enhance the overall pyrolysis process and to improve the quality of produced liquid oil.

Most PE pyrolysis approaches are promoted by heterogeneous acid catalysts (e.g., zeolites, alumina, and silica) and are usually unselective, resulting in a broad distribution of gas (C3 and C4 hydrocarbons), liquid (cycloparaffins, oligomers, and aromatics), and solid products (char, coke). This behavior is due to the radical mechanism of the C–C bond scission, leading to a complex mixture of olefinic and cross-linked compound [ 122 , 166 ].

A very recent novel study on this topic was carried out by Miandad and coworkers, in which the effect on yield and product quality of Saudi natural zeolite was investigated [ 164 ]. Saudi natural zeolite catalyst was improved via novel thermal activation (TA-NZ) at 550 °C and acid activation (AA-NZ) with HNO 3 . Pyrolysis feedstock was composed of single or mixed PS, PE, PP, and PET, in the presence of both modified natural zeolite (NZ) catalysts. The authors reported that PS produced the highest yield in liquid oil, i.e., 70% and 60% using the TA-NZ and AA-NZ catalysts, respectively, compared to PP (40% and 54%) and PE (40% and 42%).

In addition to zeolite, the research on catalytic pyrolysis has focused on other catalytic systems, always considering that the catalytic activity of the catalyst is derived from its Lewis acid sites. Most homogeneous catalysts for polyolefin degradation have been classical Lewis acids such as AlCl 3 . On the basis of these considerations, Su and coworkers [ 167 ] worked on AlCl 3 –NaCl eutectic salt as a catalyst, allowing a reduction in reaction temperature, an increase in reaction rate, a reduction in heavy oil components, and the inhibition of polyolefin formation.

Pyrolysis is most often adopted to convert plastic waste to fuels. An example of differentiation is the production of high-value-added carbon nanotubes (CNTs) [ 168 ] using a metallic Ni catalyst supported on different oxides and generated in situ. Selectivity, yield, and structural properties were tuned according to the degree of metal–support interaction in different catalysts.

5.2. Hydrocracking

Hydrocracking is a catalytic refining process for the selective recovery of useful chemical fractions in the range of heavy diesel to light naphtha. Hydrocracking requires a bifunctional catalyst with an acidic function, enhancing the cracking activity, typically provided by a high-surface-area support, such as a zeolite [ 169 ].

Recent studies have focused on the conversion of both post-consumer and laboratory polymers in mild conditions, using a metal–zeolite catalytic system.

Jumah and coworkers [ 170 ] treated low- and high-density polyethylene (LDPE, HDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) to produce liquid petrol gas (C3–C4) and naphtha. They reported the effect of both the catalyst morphology (beta zeolite impregnated with 1% Pt) and the feed stream variation, by reacting different polymers individually and post-consumer polymer mixtures.

Another recent work described the transformation of PE, PP, and PS into methane (>97% purity) at 300–350 °C using near-stoichiometric amounts of H 2 in the presence of a Ru-modified zeolite as a catalyst [ 171 ].

6. Conclusions

Ideally, the route to achieve a sustainable society is to replace synthetic plastics. A plastic-free world, however, is presently utopistic, and great effort must be applied in the pursuit of a drastic change in end-of-life plastic waste treatment and management.

In this review, we presented a highlight of the very latest technologies being developed to enhance the recycling efficiency of polymers and to generate high-value products from plastic waste.

Mechanical recycling and chemical upcycling appear to be the most promising strategies, since incineration and landfill are more pollutant and, for the latter, plastic waste completely loses its value.

Although, in the last few years, researchers have focused on chemical treatments, mechanical recycling is still the more mature and better performing technique. The lack of adequate infrastructures and technologies is limiting the industrialization of chemical upcycling, as well as the replacement of current materials with more sustainable polymers.

Future solutions will mainly focus on the development of biodegradable materials, completely recyclable polymers, and depolymerization/repolymerization pathways that allow to maximize the plastic life cycle.

Waste is a very serious problem and is intimately related to environmental and social–economic impacts. The problem of waste must be considered holistically from governments, industries, and stakeholders to preserve human health and guarantee the world survival. A deep change in mentalities at all levels is necessary to approach the impact of humanity and the industry on the environment; therefore, a high level of information is required to achieve awareness and promote sustainable processes and products. Too much information is available today; thus, that the scientific community must help give clear and well-justified indications regarding the best technologies to be adopted in the future. The authors hope that this mini-review will contribute to this consciousness and positively impact future choices.

Overview of plastic recycling techniques.

General scheme of primary and secondary recycling processes.

PET chemical recycling routes and product desired.

Low-energy catalyzed methanolysis of PET.

PET aminolysis via monoethanolamine (MEA).

General scheme of thermal recycling processes.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, V.B.; writing—original draft preparation, V.B., M.F., R.S., C.B. and M.A.-A.; writing—review and editing, V.B., M.F., R.S., C.B. and M.A.-A.; supervision, V.B. All authors read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research was funded by POR FESR Veneto 2014–2020 Asse 1. Azione 1.1.4 (project title: Advanced waste recovery systems–ID 10057503).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Management Recycling of the Waste Reflective Essay

Collection of data, management skills, inventory and storage management, social and ethical responsibility, potential business enterprises, recycling centers and cost factors, collectivism, plastic issue.

Over the past ten weeks, a recycling project took place. The requirement of this assignment was to collect and recycle different kinds of household items from the trash. Various options were given to select from and make a research report on it. In equal quantity plastic and metal was collected to complete the assignment.

After collecting all the recyclable items, it was required to find out their market value and to sell them. So, that one can differentiate that how much is the difference between the real product and the recyclable waste.

In the first week five plastic cups were collected, which were kept in the storage area. In the second week, six tin cans of a carbonated beverage were collected to recycle. In the third week, five plastic water bottles were collected.

In the fourth week, four metal candle stands were collected. In the fifth week, seven plastic hair combs were collected. In the sixth week, four side panels of a window were collected which are made of aluminum metal.

In the seventh week, five plastic tin-tin toys were collected for this assignment. In the eight week, three frying pans were collected which are found almost in every house. In the ninth week, twelve plastic bowls were collected, which are found in every house. In the last week of this assignment, six metal strainers were collected.

After all the items were collected, it was necessary to keep an account of them. All of the items were arranged in sequenced manner and then the counting was done. All the items were of different sizes and types in the inventory.

Management of the storage area was necessary to complete this assignment. Otherwise, there was a possibility that the recyclable items might get mixed up and then it will become a problem to count them in the end. The most important priority was to keep the storage area clean.

Every week a new item in the inventory was being added therefore plastic and metal items were kept separately. Plastic items were kept on the floor whereas metal products were kept on the table in an organized manner. Since, keeping the storage are clean was also a part of the assignment therefore it used to be cleaned after every three days.

Social and ethical responsibility of every person in this world should be to keep it clean. Recycling should be one thing which everyone is aware off. People need to be aware of how much can change if they start recycling. It is a social responsibility of every human being to recycle plastic as much as possible since it is very harmful for this planet.

It’s hard to calculate the number of companies who use such products and recycle their plastic and metal waste and use it for functional things. There are restaurants, organizations which use recycled metal and plastic materials. For example, the SS plastic dining room is a restaurant which is made up of recycled plastic bottles (Tree hugger, 2010). This is one good way of minimizing the plastic from this world.

Recycling center of America is one of the biggest recycling centers of plastic in America. They recycle at a very large scale and have their factories set up in most of the states. If we talk about metal recycling centers then Metal Source America, Inc. is a very big firm which recycles metals at a very large scale. They have recycling centers established in most of the states. Recycling metal is very expensive.

Collectivism is the opposite of individualism. People who are individualist believe in doing things for themselves and not for the entire society.

Collectivism is something in which people work together and for the whole society rather than just for themselves. It varies in cultures; there are some cultures in which people believe in acting as collective society and fighting for the betterment of the people but at the same time there are some cultures in which people do not really care about the betterment of anyone else except for themselves (via-web, 2011).

Plastic is a very big issue of this entire world. Plastic bags are light in weight and they are easy to carry but there is one thing that everyone should know about them and that is they are very harmful to this world. Plastic is a non-biodegradable product, it takes about hundreds of years to decompose. Plastic bags if burned become the cause of poisoning the air with toxic. There is no proper solution for the plastic issue but it is a person’s duty to use plastic products as less as one can. If we cannot stop it then at least we can reduce the use of it (Ezine articles, 2011).

During the past ten weeks while completing this assignment, a thing was realized that how important is to recycle and keep the world clean. Since, all these items were picked from within the house therefore it somehow made the house looked cleaner. Every person in this world should realize his role in how to keep this world clean and not destroying the atmosphere by the trash they throw out on the roads. It is our social and ethical responsibility in keeping this planet clean and green.

From the beginning to the end what all was required to produce the recyclable items can be explained through the following lines: Firstly, recycling is not a one man job therefore many employees were hired those who could go around and collect different types of plastic and metal waste and bring them to the factory to be recycled. For all this employees, trash collecting trucks, heavy machineries and workers who knew how to use the machineries were needed.

Supply chain of recyclable items can be explained in three points. First of all, when the trash gets recycled they are to be moved from the factory to the warehouse of the factory. Second, from the warehouse of the factory it is send to the distributors of recycled products. Third, the distributors sell it to different factories or customers who have something to do with recycled metal or plastic.

If a person is collecting and supplying the recyclable items then the chain would be like the following: Since, collecting recyclable items is not a one man job therefore many employees were hired to collect the recyclable items. After the collection was done, these recyclable items were brought to the storage area where all of these items were to be stored. From the storage area these items were to be sold to different factories or customers who pay a price for it.

For collecting these recyclable items on a commercial scale a lot of workers are needed, who could go out on the streets and collect trash, then a lot of trash collecting trucks and drivers are needed those who would bring all the recyclable waste back to the warehouse. Once the recyclable waste is at the warehouse then the distribution process starts in which trucks are again needed so that the products can be supplied to factories those who would recycle these items.

All of the recyclable items will be stored in a warehouse because it will be a place where only recycling items will be getting collected and no other work will be able to interrupt this process.

Starting with one distribution is obviously needed but as soon as more factories ordering for the plastic and metal waste then yes, there will be need of at least two or three distribution centers so that the different distribution centers are easily able to distribute the plastic and metal waste to different factories easily and not getting mixed up. This will be a local operation because it is necessary to clean the society first. Focus will be to collect the recyclable items locally.

Since, the supply load will be generating a lot therefore it will become necessary for outsourcing the parts of supply chain to different providers. Recycling is also a business; therefore, gaining profit is the aim of every business. By outsourcing the parts of supply chain, the work will be distributed and more work will be done in less time.

Ezine articles. (2011). The Effect of Plastic Bags on Environment . Web.

Tree hugger. (2010). Floating Plastic Dining Room is Taking Orders . Web.

Via-web. (2011). XIII. Individualism versus collectivism . Web.

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IvyPanda. (2023, December 28). Management Recycling of the Waste. https://ivypanda.com/essays/recycling/

"Management Recycling of the Waste." IvyPanda , 28 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/recycling/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Management Recycling of the Waste'. 28 December.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Management Recycling of the Waste." December 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/recycling/.

1. IvyPanda . "Management Recycling of the Waste." December 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/recycling/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Management Recycling of the Waste." December 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/recycling/.

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Science students start recycling campaign in Moscow Region

'Clear Action' project has already sent off about 10 tons of paper to be recycled. Source: Press photo

The idea of a recycling system was suggested to Anton Fedorenko—a young scientist and  a Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) student—by his friend last winter, and, as easy as April, he and his friends had presented a recycling project to Potanin Scholarship Charity Foundation, which helps outstanding students improve themselves. With the financial help of this foundation, as well as partial aid from the Institute, project  “Clear Action”  (“Chistoye Delo” in Russian) was born.

First, students designed a special container for paper waste. There were many difficulties, including long delays with assembly, problems with finding a place for installation and subsequent failure with the storage location. Still, paper collection became rather popular. Clear Action no longer needed an advertisement: Students would come up every day with piles of paper, while others would come to offer their help.

Thus, after a long discussion with the Institute’s administration, it was decided to build a 15,000-gallon cabin for the collection and storage of paper on campus. Specially designed with attention to detail, the cabin was ready by the end of this academic year.

“I can’t say it was very difficult to do this. Of course, we had some minor problems, but we were ready for them; other students and even workers from a construction site nearby were glad to help us,” says Anton.

Now this collection center works day and night, and everyone can leave paper in its special window. Regularly, workers come and pack the collected paper accurately. When the volume of paper becomes large enough, a truck moves it to one of the recycling centers nearby.

One ton of wastepaper saves 10 trees. There are around 3,000 students at MIPT and several offices, so around 22 pounds of paper are spent each year. This means that one year of recycling paper on MIPT campus will save about 300,000 trees.

“By the way, there were some fun moments. Once, a girl asked me to let her look through the tossed paper, because she thought she threw her passport in with it as well. Or when we were helping a local publishing office and, while we were moving packs of paper, I found an old envelope with 10 dollars in it. That was a bit strange, but we gave it back to the office,” the MIPT student says.

By now, Clear Action has sent off about 10 tons of paper to be recycled.

In the near future, Clear Action plans to buy a press for plastic and install special containers for plastic bottles around the city of Dolgoprudny, where MIPT is located. Some of these containers have already been placed on the campus.

“We are discussing this with the administration of the city. Our project is not just ecologically friendly, but it also could bring in income. So, we already have some companies ready to cooperate,” says Anton. According to calculations, it will cost around 1.1 million rubles ($34,000) per 100 000 citizens.

Click to enlarge the image 'Clear Action' of the MIPT

By their plan, people will just throw plastic bottles into containers next to ordinary waste baskets, where, once a week, a collector will come by and take the recycled plastics to the press. After this, pressed plastic will go to one of the recycling centers in Moscow. Clear Action is planning to enlarge its territory of collection and acquire a special recycling machine. It will simplify the entire process.

In addition, to ensure that the system continues to work even if the founders move away, the plan is to grow into a stable project with professional workers and cleaners, rather than volunteers or students who can suddenly give up on their duties.

“It’s not as difficult as it seems. In a number of cities—for example, in Kharkov [Ukraine] where I am from—this practice is used successfully,” says Anton.

Yet this project is not just about ecology. One of its co-founders started researching the bacteria contained in wastepaper. In addition, Anton himself is also working on another project named  "Emission,"  based on the works of Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier and promising a breakthrough in agriculture and medicine.

Anton is going to continue the Clear Action campaign, even after graduating from the Institute: “We will work for it as long as we are here. And even if we would move away, the project would be settled enough to continue working without us.”

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Israeli company transforming trash into new type of plastic eyes Massachusetts for recycling plant

M ARLBOROUGH — Neither Massachusetts’ high taxes, its expensive cost of living, nor its aging workforce has deterred one start-up company’s ambition to build its first US-based industrial recycling plant in Massachusetts. Why?

We have trash. And lots of it.

UBQ Materials, an Israel-based start-up company, says it can transform regular household trash — from stale half-eaten muffins in plastic wrap to food-soiled Tupperware — into a new type of plastic-like material. The company plans to build an industrial-scale recycling facility in the United States within the next three years.

“Massachusetts is at the top [of the list],” said Jack Tato Bigio, cofounder and co-CEO of UBQ Materials, a new type of chemical recycling company that uses hard-to-recycle or difficult-to-compost items for its product.

Massachusetts disposed of about 6 million tons of waste in 2022, according to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection . Though the state produces less trash than larger and more populous states, space in its landfills is dwindling , and many are near capacity. Massachusetts also has a goal to reduce waste to 4 million tons per year by the end of the decade, a decrease of 30 percent compared to 2018 levels. Just under half of the state’s garbage is exported to other states including New Hampshire , New York, and Alabama.

Landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency . Methane is a particularly potent climate-warming pollutant because it traps more heat than carbon dioxide, although it doesn’t linger as long in the atmosphere.

Massachusetts is the right place to build a new recycling technology, UBQ company leaders said, because it has a lot of trash, high costs to get rid of it, and regulatory goals to reduce all that garbage.

“Those things are the tailwinds that support being here as opposed to being somewhere else,” said David Biderman a consultant for the Israeli company.

Bigio, the co-CEO, spent several days on his US scouting mission: The company courted Massachusetts government officials, including climate chief Melissa Hoffer, toured solid waste facilities, and asked state regulators what environmental permits might be required to build. At a small recycling industry conference at a Best Western in Marlborough this week, Bigio and Biderman manned a booth where they mingled with area companies, lawyers, and regulators.

UBQ has developed a new type of chemical recycling process in which regular household waste is sorted, broken down, and run through a chemical reactor. In the end, they get a material that is plastic-like but is about two-thirds organic materials.

Glass and metal are first removed from the garbage. Then, the garbage — ideally about two-thirds of organic materials and about a third of plastics — is shredded and broken down. Once it’s pummeled into tiny bits, the material goes into the company’s chemical reactor, where the wet bits of garbage are heated at about 400 degrees (a relatively low temperature compared to other types of chemical recycling).

The combination of heat, pressure, oxygen, water that’s extracted from the organic matter, and the garbage itself is used to create chemical and physical reactions that break the garbage down into tiny particles: sugars, fats, fibers, collagens, and bits of plastic.

Finally, this material is reassembled into greenish-brown pellets, that when dry, slightly disintegrate in your hand if you squeeze them hard enough. The “thermoplastic” pellets look strikingly similar to rabbit feed .

Those pellets can be fed through existing industrial machines, UBQ leaders said, and can be combined with other plasticto make anything from a McDonald’s food tray to a clothes hanger. UBQ’s thermoplastic could hypothetically replace “virgin” plastic, or new plastic made from petrochemicals. But so far, most of UBQ’s customers are using only a small proportion of the material in their final plastic products. Using the material can cut a company’s carbon footprint when creating plastic products.

UBQ opened its first industrial-scale plant in the Netherlands at the end of last year, which currently employs 67 people and can process about 110,000 tons of garbage per year. Biderman said a US plant would likely be of a similar size; in addition to Massachusetts, the company is also considering other northeastern states.

Massachusetts officials did not comment on the conversations they’ve had with UBQ, but Brie Bristol, deputy director of communications for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development, said in a statement that Governor Maura Healey’s administration aims to foster an environment where businesses can thrive, “especially businesses that join in our fight against climate change.”

But some environmental advocates warn that recycling — particularly chemical recycling — can sometimes distract from the larger need to reduce plastic consumption overall.

Many environmental advocates say reduction, not new recycling methods, is what Massachusetts should focus on.

Jenny Gitlitz, director of solutions to plastic pollution for Beyond Plastics , an environmental advocacy group, said that chemical recycling promotes the idea that cutting back on consumption is not necessary. That’s a convenient narrative, she said, for the oil and gas industry that has resisted a global transition toward renewable energy and pushed the importance of petroleum in creating plastic.

“They’re trying to convince the public that: ‘We’ve got this,’ ” Gitlitz said. “They don’t want their profits to go down.”

Although UBQ says its plants do not produce greenhouse gas emissions or waste, she said Massachusetts regulators ought to exercise caution when permitting any type of chemical recycling facility.

“I would urge them to do their homework,” Gitlitz said.

Mechanical recycling — or sorting, cleaning, and grinding plastics for reuse — is the most common form of plastic recycling, but it’s also expensive and labor-intensive. And it’s largely been a failure: Only about 10 percent of plastic that’s generated in the United States is recycled, according to the EPA . That compares to more than two-thirds of paper and a quarter of glass.

Janet Domenitz, executive director for MASSPIRG, a public interest and environmental advocacy group, said that new laws could do more to attack the state’s waste problem than new recycling technologies. Much of the state’s garbage could be recycled or composted with traditional methods if stronger policies or incentives were in place, she said, such as including single-use water bottles and energy drink bottles in the state’s bottle return program, implementing better recycling sorting programs, and expanding compost programs.

A huge proportion of household trash is made up of organic materials, which UBQ relies on for its processing. But those organic items ought to be composted, not combined with plastics, Domenitz said.

“I don’t want to be anti-innovation,” Domenitz said, adding, “This is an enabler of throwing away more crap.”

She called the idea of transforming household garbage into another type of plastic “a nightmare” for the circular economy because organic material would not be composted, and instead may eventually end up in a landfill.

Company officials say that UBQ is filling a need and only accepts materials at “the end of the line.” UBQ takes food contaminated with plastic that cannot be composted, and they take plastic that is contaminated with food that cannot easily be recycled. In other words, they take the stuff that has nowhere else to go.

But, Bigio, the co-CEO, acknowledges that UBQ’s materials could still ultimately end up in a landfill. For example, if McDonald’s tosses a tray made from UBQ materials into the garbage after it breaks, instead of into the recycling bin, it could go to the landfill.

“Look, the system is the system,” Bigio said. “We cannot really change the whole system. What we can do is come up with something that is a much better alternative … with a positive impact.”

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Elementary students in West Philadelphia collect 43,000 plastic bottles to recycle

By Eva Andersen

March 27, 2024 / 7:52 PM EDT / CBS Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — In an effort to promote environmental awareness and foster community spirit, Blankenburg Elementary School in West Philadelphia embarked on an eight-week journey focused on recycling. 

The school-wide initiative challenged students to collect 10,000 plastic bottles, with the extra incentive of the classroom with the highest number getting a pizza party for their efforts. Students responded enthusiastically, collecting a staggering 43,103 bottles.

The culmination of this effort was an assembly on March 22, when students gathered to learn about the importance of recycling and eagerly awaited the announcement of the contest winners. Cheers erupted as the winning fourth-grade classroom was announced.

Mahaj Stevens, 9, said he had never seen his class come together like they did for this competition.

"People's behaviors got better and we [were] all working together to get water bottles," Stevens said. "We all wanted to win."

Semaj Jay, 10, was not only in the winning classroom, but he also collected the most bottles out of any student in the elementary school. He said he even invested some of his own money in the program.

"I saved up my money to start buying some trash bags and I started going outside and recycling," Jay said. 

He even did a little dumpster diving.

"One day I was walking from school, I saw all these trash cans. I put on gloves, put my hoodie up, and started digging in it, putting my bottles [in the bags]," he said.

Jay got his own trophy, in addition to getting to share his classroom's trophy.

"I put all my effort into it and I was waiting for this day," the 10-year-old said. "Look, I feel good. I shout out to my classmates, my teachers, and all this group because we had finally got it."

That sense of community spirit warmed the heart of Jakob Kramer, Blankenburg's program coordinator who organized the project.

"I feel like getting kids to recycle – even getting adults to recycle – is a challenge," Kramer said. "But the kids bought into it. They are very competitive."

Kramer worked with other school staff to place colorful posters around the school that tracked how many bottles each classroom collected. 

"So the kids would walk by the main hallway and see where the class was at, and they're like, 'Oh, 209's ahead of us! We gotta bring in some more!'" he said.

The program also boosted attendance, which has been a challenge at the school, Kramer said.  

A local recycling center agreed to give Blankenburg one cent for every bottle collected. The more than $400 raised will go toward school programs, whether it's for cheerleading, behavioral programs or attendance incentives.

"It literally is coming back because they raised all this money themselves," Kramer said.

Next year, Kramer plans to bring back the program but collect a different material to recycle.

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RECYCLING IN MOSCOW - MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?

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You'll do most of the work in groups of three or four, however, sometimes you'll have to work individually. Part 1. Weeks 1-2.  Conduct a survey on your peers' recycling habits and attitudes. Step 1 (individual work). Work out what you'd like to ask. Post your questions on the virtual board so that your classmates will see them (see the link Post Questions Here  in the  Useful Tools  section below). Each of you has to post at least one multiple choice question. Step 2 (whole class). Decide how many questions you need in the survey and which of the questions you would like to ask. Create a survey (see the link Create a Survey  in the  Useful Tools section ) and conduct it in your school. Part 2. Weeks 3-5. Do comparative research into recycling in Russia and some English-speaking countries. Step 1 (individual work). Study the statistics on recycling plastic in the USA (see the link Recycling Plastic Statistics in the Research section) and the article on the benefits or recycled plastic (see the link Why Recycle Plastic? in the Research section). Step 2 (group work). Find the statistics on recycling paper in the USA and related data (recyling plastic and paper) for the UK, Australia and Russia. Find out which benefits recyled paper has. Step 3 (group work). Share your findings on the virtual board (see the link Our Findings in the Research section). Part 3. Weeks 6-7. Write an article on recycling. Step 1 (individual work). For ideas, study the links Recycling in Moscow and Greenpeace in Russia in the Research section.  Step 2 (individual work). Write an article on recycling (200-250 words). Remember that you are going to launch a recycling project in your school, so your article should be targeted at your peers who you need to convince of the necessity of recycling. Use  the results of the survey you conducted in your school and  some of the facts you found out while you were doing the research . Part 4. Weeks 8-10. Promote recycling in your school.  Step 1 (group work). Create posters to promote recycling in your school. Use relevant facts and powerful images. Have your teacher look through the posters, then improve them if necessary and post them in your school. Step 2 (individual work). After you get your article on recycling marked, post it on the virtual board (see the link Post Articles Here in the Practical Steps section). Step 3 (whole class). Vote for the best article (you can create another survey or do it in class) and post it on social networks. Part 5. Weeks 11-13. Plan your project. Step 1 (individual work). Study the links in the Practical Steps section. Step 2 (group work). Set up group blogs (see the link Create Your Blog in the Useful Tools section) and work out detailed, step-by-step projects on recycling in your school. In your projects, specify possible problems and suggest your solutions. Give your teacher access to your blogs. Part 6. Week 14-15. Assess the projects. Step 1 (group work). Post your projects on the virtual board (see the link Post   Projects Here  in the Practical Steps section).  Step 2 (group work). Assess your peers' projects (see the criteria for project assessment in Evaluation  http://zunal.com/evaluation.php?w=325263 ). Part 7. Week 16 and onwards. Launch the project. Step 1 (week 16-17, whole class). Design the final version of the recycling project.  Step 2 (whole class). Launch the project in your school. 

Attachments

• Recycling at School Description: How to start recycling and conduct a waste audit
• Recycle Now - Recycle at Home Description: What to do with popular items
• What Can We Do? Description: Ideas for a school recycling project
• More Ideas Description: Ideas for a school recycling project
• Post Articles Here Description: An online virtual board
• Post Projects Here Description: An online virtual board
• 10 DIY Creative Ways to Reuse / Recycle Plastic Bottles part 1 Description: Great ideas for our charity fair or a recycling contest
• Recycling in Moscow Description: Recyclers' experiences
• Greenpeace in Russia Description: General information
• Why Recycle Plastic? Description: The advantages of recycled plastic
• Recycling Plastic Statistics Description: Recycling plastic in the USA
• Our Findings Description: An online virtual board
• Post Questions Here Description: An online virtual board
• Create a Survey Description: A user-friendly, partially free tool for creating questionnaires and other surveys
• Create Your Blog Description: One of the best blog sites

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Israeli company transforming trash into new type of plastic eyes Massachusetts for recycling plant

MARLBOROUGH — Strong school systems and a highly educated workforce can attract companies to Massachusetts, while a high cost of living and taxes can push them away.

But one Israeli startup’s ambitions to build a new recycling plant here have zeroed in on an unusual business opportunity: Trash. We have a lot of it.

UBQ Materials says it can transform regular household trash — from stale half-eaten muffins in plastic wrap to food-soiled Tupperware — into a new type of plastic-like material. The company plans to build an industrial-scale recycling facility in the United States within the next three years.

“Massachusetts is at the top” of the list, said Jack Tato Bigio, cofounder and co-chief executive of UBQ Materials, a new type of chemical recycling company that uses hard-to-recycle or difficult-to-compost items for its product.

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Massachusetts disposed of about 6 million tons of waste in 2022, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection . Though the state produces less trash than larger, more populous states, landfill space here is dwindling , with many near capacity. Massachusetts also has a goal to reduce waste to 4 million tons per year by the end of the decade. Just under half of the state’s garbage is exported to other states including New Hampshire , New York, and Alabama.

Landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency . Methane is a particularly potent climate-warming pollutant because it traps more heat than carbon dioxide, although it doesn’t linger as long in the atmosphere.

Massachusetts is the right place to build a new recycling technology, UBQ company leaders said, because of its volume of trash and the high costs to dispose of it, and its goals to reduce all that garbage. Massachusetts has among the highest tipping fees for trash disposal in the country; UBQ would be paid to take that waste so it isn’t sent to a landfill.

“Those things are the tailwinds that support being here as opposed to being somewhere else,” said David Biderman a consultant for the Israeli company.

Bigio, the co-CEO, spent several days on his US scouting mission: The company courted Massachusetts government officials, including climate chief Melissa Hoffer, toured solid waste facilities, and learned about environmental permits. At a recycling industry conference in Marlborough recently, Bigio and Biderman staffed a booth, mingling with representatives of area companies, lawyers, and regulators.

UBQ has developed a type of chemical recycling process in which regular household waste is sorted, broken down, and run through a chemical reactor to produce a plastic-like material that has two-thirds organic components.

First, glass and metal are removed and then garbage — ideally about two-thirds of organic materials, the rest plastic — is shredded and broken down. Once it’s pummeled into tiny bits, the material goes into a chemical reactor that heats it to about 400 degrees (a relatively low temperature compared to other chemical recycling).

The combination of heat, pressure, oxygen, and water extracted from the organic matter, and the garbage itself, is used to create chemical and physical reactions that break down the garbage into tiny particles: sugars, fats, fibers, collagens, and bits of plastic.

The resulting material is reassembled into soft, bendy greenish-brown pellets, that when dry, can breakdown in your hand if you squeeze them hard enough. The “thermoplastic” pellets look strikingly similar to rabbit feed .

Those pellets can be used in existing industrial machines, UBQ leaders said, and combined with other plastic to make anything from a McDonald’s food tray to a clothes hanger. (McDonald’s is a UBQ customer in the Netherlands.)

UBQ’s thermoplastic could hypothetically replace new plastic made from petrochemicals. But so far, most of UBQ’s customers — which include Mercedes-Benz, PepsiCo, and Anheuser-Busch InBev — are using a small proportion of the material in their plastic products. Using the material can cut a company’s carbon footprint when creating plastic products.

But some outside experts expressed skepticism about the technology. Lee Bell, a technical and policy adviser for the International Pollutants Elimination Network, said that it’s difficult to safely mix different plastics to create a new product because of the many types of chemicals additives present.

“One of my main concerns is the transfer of toxic chemicals into their new product,” Bell said, adding that rigorous testing would be needed to ensure the new products are safe.

UBQ leaders said in an interview their product is safe and that any harmful chemical additives would not be released unless burned, similar to other plastics.

UBQ opened its first industrial-scale plant in the Netherlands at the end of 2023, which currently employs 67 people and can process about 110,000 tons of garbage per year. Biderman said a US plant would likely be of a similar size. In addition to Massachusetts, the company is also considering other Northeastern states.

Massachusetts officials would not comment on conversations with UBQ. But Brie Bristol, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development, said in a statement the Healey administration aims to foster an environment where businesses can thrive, “especially businesses that join in our fight against climate change.”

But some environmental advocates warn that recycling — particularly chemical recycling — can distract from the larger need to reduce plastic consumption overall.

Many environmental advocates say reduction, not new recycling methods, is what Massachusetts should focus on.

Jenny Gitlitz, director of solutions to plastic pollution for Beyond Plastics , an environmental advocacy group, said chemical recycling promotes the idea that cutting back on consumption is not necessary. That’s a convenient narrative, she said, for the oil and gas industry that has resisted a global transition toward renewable energy and pushed the importance of petroleum in creating plastic.

“They’re trying to convince the public that: ‘We’ve got this,’ ” Gitlitz said. “They don’t want their profits to go down.”

Although UBQ said its plants do not produce greenhouse gas emissions or waste, Gitlitz said Massachusetts regulators ought to exercise caution when permitting any type of chemical recycling facility.

“I would urge them to do their homework,” Gitlitz said.

Mechanical recycling — or sorting, cleaning, and grinding plastics for reuse — is the most common form of plastic recycling, but it’s also expensive and labor intensive. And it’s largely been a failure: Only about 10 percent of plastic in the United States is recycled, according to the EPA . That compares to more than two-thirds of paper and a quarter of glass.

Janet Domenitz, executive director for MASSPIRG, a public interest and environmental advocacy group, said new laws could do more to attack the state’s waste problem than new recycling technologies. Much of the state’s garbage could be recycled or composted with traditional methods if stronger policies or incentives were in place, she said, such as including single-use water bottles and energy drink bottles in the state’s bottle return program, implementing better recycling sorting programs, and expanding compost programs.

A huge proportion of household trash is made up of organic materials, which UBQ relies on for its processing. But those organic items ought to be composted, not combined with plastics, Domenitz said.

“I don’t want to be anti-innovation,” Domenitz said, adding, “This is an enabler of throwing away more crap.”

She called the idea of transforming household garbage into another type of plastic “a nightmare” for the circular economy because organic material would not be composted, and instead may eventually end up in a landfill.

Company officials say that UBQ is filling a need and only accepts materials at “the end of the line.” UBQ takes food contaminated with plastic that cannot be composted, and plastic contaminated with food that cannot easily be recycled. In other words, it takes the stuff that has nowhere else to go.

Bigio, the co-CEO, acknowledges UBQ’s materials could still ultimately end up in a landfill. For example, if McDonald’s tosses a tray made from UBQ materials into the garbage after it breaks, instead of into the recycling bin, it could go to the landfill.

“Look, the system is the system,” Bigio said. “We cannot really change the whole system. What we can do is come up with something that is a much better alternative … with a positive impact.”

Erin Douglas can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her @erinmdouglas23 .

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Rancho Cordova, CA 95742

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Simply the quickest most convenient place to recycle your cans. I bring mine smashed, bagged, and ready to go. Earlier this week, I brought in 12 bags full of cans and was in and out in under 10 minutes.

Always quick and friendly service. Get you in and out fast and THEY TAKE PLASTIC, ALUMINUM & GLASS!

Quick service for recycling cans and plastic bottles. I come with my items separated so it's an easy process for me to fill the bins and the guys to weigh and process.

I'd give this review zero stars if possbile. I got there before they closed and they refused to take me. the guy barely spoke English and just kept saying "We are closed we are closed". never give them business!!!

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What do I do with my plastic eggs after Easter? Can I recycle them? Here's what to know.

As Easter Sunday approaches, you may be wondering what to do with all those eggs and grass once the day is over.

Here's what you can do with your plastic Easter eggs and grass after the holiday.

Are plastic Easter eggs recyclable?

No, plastic Easter eggs are not recyclable,  according to GreenMatters.  If you are disposing of them, they need to go in the trash.

Like most single-use plastic, Easter eggs aren't sustainable, but there are other things you can do to keep them out of landfills.

What can I do with my plastic Easter eggs?

Since you can't recycle them, there are a few other things you can do instead.

If you can't recycle, you can reuse! If you have the storage space, you can save them for the next year to maximize the use of the single-use plastic.

For those who aren't able to hang onto their plastic eggs for the following year, consider donating them to a second-hand store, putting them on Facebook Marketplace or giving them away to a friend instead so someone else can reuse them.

Easter 2024:  Here's your guide to celebrating the holiday with kids

Is plastic Easter grass recyclable?

No, just like Easter eggs, plastic store-bought Easter grass is not recyclable and must go in the trash if being disposed.

You can follow similar guidelines to the Easter eggs above, like saving it or donating it so it can be reused, or you can opt to make your own paper grass from paper that can be recycled.

For more information on what can (and cannot) be recycled in your area, check with your local recycling plant.

Katie Wiseman is a trending news intern at IndyStar. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter  @itskatiewiseman .