Plastics recycling is a pretty easy concept. Make plastics, use plastics, recycle plastics into new plastics.
But what about those difficult-to-recycle materials beyond the soda bottles, milk jugs and detergent containers that typically help fill the nation's recycling containers?
The American Chemistry Council's plastics division is out with a new video aimed at educating folks about different processes that can capture the value of these non-recycled plastics.
Clocking in at 4 minutes, 11 seconds, the video called “Beyond Recycling: Recovering the Energy in Non-Recycled Plastics,” explores the different ways plastics can be converted into energy.
After a primer on plastics recycling, the video delves into the outlets for the difficult-to-recycle materials, including waste-to-energy, plastics-to-oil, solid fuel and gasification.
“Today, we have more opportunities to recycle plastics than ever, and an increasing number of technologies are allowing us to convert non-recycled plastics into useful energy,” said Craig Cookson, director of sustainability and recycling for the plastics division, in a statement. “Even after use, plastics are valuable materials that should not go to waste, and thanks to today's technologies, they don't have to."