If you intend to do your bit for the environment, you may consider yourself a recycling champion on the home front. Yet, if you're responsible for a lot of waste in a commercial environment, you may be unsure about what to do with large quantities of plastic. Are you sure that these can be recycled without any additional effort on your part, and did you know that there are several different types of plastic when it comes to their suitability for recycling?

Understanding the Resin Identification Code

The plastics industry uses a standard called the "resin identification code" to categorise different types of plastic and make it easier for people to understand what they're dealing with. These different types of plastic are categorised according to the temperature they have been subjected to during construction, and you will find plastics with the highest recycling value on the lower end of a seven-point scale.

Dealing with Thermoset Plastic

Certain plastics are relatively easy to melt down and mould into new products, so they are ideal for recycling. However, "thermoset" plastics can only be sent to the waste bin as they cannot be melted down, no matter how much heat is applied. If you come across a large quantity of used plastic material in your environment, you should determine whether it is made from thermoset plastic so you can react accordingly.

Clean Plastic

However, before you automatically send any plastic to the recycling plant, make sure it is as clean as possible. This is particularly important if you work in a food preparation environment, as contaminated plastic will not automatically be accepted. Much depends on the recycling facility, but "dirty" plastic items may be diverted to the rubbish bin without further inspection. If you can, clean everything carefully before you send it for recycling, it'll have a much better chance of making it through the entire process.

Decomposition

It's certainly worth recycling plastic if you can, as these items are extremely slow to degrade in any landfill. In other words, plastic is not biodegradable, and some experts believe that certain plastics will never decompose, which is indeed a sobering thought.

What to Do Next

If you want more information about plastic recycling, talk with some who are actually responsible for performing the work. They will tell you what you need to be looking out for at your end and what you need to do to make those plastics ready for recycling.

For more information, contact a company like Kip plast Limited.