Today, about 60 million water bottles are thrown away every day in America, and it can take up to 700 years for just one plastic bottle to break down in a process called biodegrading, which is also the process that happens when a piece of fruit rots. The bottles fill up our landfills, and we oblige to landfill space to bury trash that can’t be recycled. Also, throwing away plastic hurts the environment in other ways. As plastic decays, it could give off chemicals that get into our water and air and can make people, plants, and animals sick. So, How to recycle plastic bottle?
To solve these problems, we have worked together to develop a process to recycle plastic bottles and convert them into other useful items, including clothes, furniture, fences, new plastic bottles, bags, and containers.
Why Should We Recycle?
There is a wide range of reasons to recycle plastic bottles. For most starters, recycling reduces the pollution that can come from the chemicals used to make these bottles. Recycling helps cut down on the amount of trash thrown into landfills, so our garbage doesn’t take up as much space. Also, recycling creates jobs for people who collect recyclable things and work at places that turn them into new materials.
Recycling is great for the economy and the environment, and it is quite easy to do. All you must do is remember to throw things into the right bins when you are done with them. But you can also do more, especially if places that you usually spend time don’t have to recycle bins. Students can talk to their school board and teachers about setting up recycling programs at school. You may also organize can and bottle drives to pick up litter and sort out recyclables in parks and along streets. And you could make signs to spread the word that recycling is easy and important to do.
Next reasons:
Recycling plastics reduces the amount of plastic being taken to the ever-diminishinglandfillsites. Most countries have assigned areas meant for burying plastics. When they are recycled, these sites will receive a few plastic garbage. The remaining areas could be used for other purposes instead of dumping plastics which do not rot. These areas can be used for agriculture or human settlement. It should be understood thatthe human populationis growing each day and the land is becoming a problem. Instead of abusing the land for garbage disposal it could be used for settlement and other important economic activities.
Recycling of materials including plastics needs less energy as compared to making the plastic from scratch. This saves energy and that energy can be diverted to other important things in the economy.
In the long run, it improves the economy and boosts the living standards of the people. So you do not just sit there doing nothing, embrace plastic recycling activities and improve your economic standards.
Process of Plastic Recycling
This below is a step by step process of plastic recycling:
1. Collection
Plastics are available in various forms, for instance, plastic containers, jars, bottles, plastic bags, packaging plastic, and big industrial plastics just to mention but a few. Due to their nature and availability, there are plastic collection centers and some business people have ventured into the plastic collecting industry as a source of income. Tons and tons of scrap plastic are collected and sent to a collecting yard where they are, and then packed and transported to plastic processing plants. Unfortunately, not all countries have the ability to recycle plastic. Very few developing countries could recycle plastic. This means that plastic waste is still a major problem for some countries in the world.
2. Sorting
The actual plastic recycling process starts with the sorting of the different plastic items by their resin content and color. This process is done to ensure all contaminants are eliminated. There are particularly designed machines that can help in sorting the plastics according to their resin content. After that, he recycling mill sorts the scrap plastic by symbols at the bottom of the plastics.
3. Shredding
After sorting the plastics, the next one is to cut the plastics into small chunks or pieces. The plastic bottles and containers are ground and cut into tiny pieces or flakes. The heavier and lighter plastic flakes are separated using a particularly designed machine. The separation process assists in ensuring that the different plastics are not put together or mixed up in the final product. Remember that different plastics get used to making different items.
4. Cleaning
After a complete separation, the flakes or chunks are washed with detergents to eliminate the remaining contamination. Once the cleaning process is complete, the clean flakes are passed through functional equipment that further distributes the plastic resin types. The plastic flakes are then subjected to moderate heat to dry.
5. Melting
The dry flakes are melted down. They could be melted down and molded into a new shape or they are melted down and processed into granules. The melting process is also done under regulated temperatures. There is specific equipment designed to melt down plastic without destroying them.
6. Making of pellets
After the melting process, the plastic pieces are compressed into tiny pellets known as nurdles. The plastic pellets are ready for reuse or are redesigned into new plastic products. It is quite important to point out that recycled plastic is hardly used to make the identical plastic item or its previous form. It is in this pellet form that plastics are transported to plastic production companies to be redesigned and be used in making other useful plastic products.
Some creative ideas to recycle plastic bottle:
Start a Herb Garden
This project gets you extra green points. These could be cashed in for absolutely nothing. Well, perhaps to feed your eco-soul. Notwithstanding, upcycling 2-liter bottles into sub-irrigated planters is one of the more productive plastic bottle projects. Follow some steps to create an herb garden from a recycled bottle:
- Exclude the label from the bottle and clean the inside.
- And, take a sharp object and punch drainage holes in the top third of the bottle.
- Poke a hole in the side of the bottle about half-way down.
- Then, wrap a piece of paper around the bottle.
- Take a marker and trace a cutting line around the bottle.
- Then, cut along the bottle on the line.
- Flip over the bottle top and include a strip of fabric.
- Ensure that the fabric is in contact with the soil.
Create Recycled Plastic Bottle Supply Cups
Office buildings are one of the leading contributors to the rise of landfills. Therefore, after guzzling down a Mountain Dew to kick a 2 p.m. slump, you don’t just toss the bottle when you finish. Then, make plastic bottle cups to house pens and supplies at the office, or craft supplies at home. Please impress your coworkers and kids with your sustainable efforts.
Make a DIY Plastic Bottle Planter
Cat planters from plastic bottles. Yes, this is a true thing. Spark your DIY spirit with a simple project that utilizes 2-liters into a useful and appealing indoor planter. Here are some simple step-by-step directions for how to make a DIY plastic bottle planter:
- Cut the bottom third of a 2-liter bottle.
- Then, paint the bottle white or the color of your choice.
- Use pieces of the rest of the bottle to cut out ears.
- After that, draw a face and other features on the bottle.
- Fill the bottle with seeds and soil.
Build an Outdoor Broom
If we haven’t already proven that plastic bottles could be recycled into just about anything, let’s settle it. Recycle a 2-liter bottle into an outdoor broom is just a few steps. So, the sturdy bristles make it more easy to sweep up dirt and common outdoor items.
Creating a Vertical Garden
Warning: You need to consume 2-liter beverages to knock out this project. Reusing your soda bottles to create a vast and impressive vertical garden is a simple andlow-budget way to beautify your yard. In addition to soda bottles, you will need clothesline, twine or picture wire. Then, check out the step-by-step instructions on how to create a vertical garden from recycled soda bottles.
We hope that you take on one or more of the plastic bottle recycling projects we’ve listed above. If you would like to build on that momentum, check out our steps on how to recycle plastic bottles at home. You will be surprised how small steps can save you a lot of time and money.
How to recycle paper? How to recycle plastic bags?
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