Knowra Mechanical recycling Mechanical recycling Mechanical recycling recovers plastic waste through physical operations such as sorting, washing, shredding, and remelting, without breaking polymers into their chemical building blocks.
Plastic sorting : Plastic sorting separates discarded plastics by polymer type, color, shape, or other properties. Sorting keeps incompatible polymers from contaminating the material sent for reprocessing.
Polymer : A polymer is a large molecule made of repeating structural units called monomers. Mechanical recycling preserves polymer chains rather than reducing them to monomers.
Plastic recycling : Plastic recycling is the recovery and processing of discarded plastics into materials or products. Mechanical recycling is a major method within plastic recycling.
Chemical recycling : Chemical recycling uses chemical reactions to convert plastic waste into monomers, feedstocks, or other chemicals. Unlike mechanical recycling, it changes the polymer chemically rather than chiefly reshaping it.
Recycling contamination : Recycling contamination is unwanted material mixed into a recyclable stream that can reduce its quality or disrupt processing. Contamination can lower recycled polymer quality and make batches unusable.
Plastic washing : Plastic washing removes dirt, labels, food residue, and other contaminants from plastic waste. Washing reduces contamination before plastic is shredded and melted.
Thermoplastic : A thermoplastic is a polymer that softens when heated and hardens when cooled, a change that can be repeated. Its ability to soften again makes remelting possible.
Bottle-to-bottle recycling : Bottle-to-bottle recycling turns used plastic beverage bottles into material for new beverage bottles. This application can return suitable PET to a demanding packaging use.
Pyrolysis : Pyrolysis decomposes materials by heating them at high temperatures in the absence of oxygen. Plastic pyrolysis is often presented as an alternative for waste unsuitable for mechanical recycling.
Recycling rate : A recycling rate is a measure of the share of waste collected or processed for recycling under a stated method. Reported rates depend on whether collection, sorting, or actual reprocessing counts as recycling.
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