New And Alternative Ways For Recycling Plastic

Due to the relatively small percentage of plastic products that are recyclable and actually make it to the discarded plastic recycling machinery, recycling has once again become a controversial issue. Added to the fact that most recycled products still make their way into landfills and that the production of new plastics has not been decreased, the recycling industry is continuously looking for new and alternative means to recycle from this: https://kingtigergroup.com/municipal-solid-waste-pyrolysis-plant/.

Some of these new and innovative measures include:

1. Plastic For Fuel

The pyrolysis oil plant manufacturers for plastic recycling are using techniques to turn plastic into fuel. As plastic is melted, liquids and gases are created that are used to run the recycling plant. The melting process does not actually burn the plastic which means the process is less harmful to the environment than using other sources to fuel the plant.

The melted plastic is then turned into ‘downcycled’ products such as textiles and plastic timber. These products can often not be recycled a second time and still end up in a landfill or the ocean.

Other techniques of Kingtiger GT have been invented to turn plastic into diesel, petrol, butane, propane and other usable gasses, eliminating the original product in its’ entirety. Unfortunately, recycled fuels are still not being used to replace unsustainable, natural resources, limiting the market and therefore the production of waste fuel.

2. Bioplastics

While this is not actually a recycling process, the production of plastics from plants and organisms is considered to be more environmentally friendly than using fossil fuels in the production process. The thought is that these plastics degrade naturally in the environment and therefore do not need to be recycled.

Upon breaking down, these plastics create compost that is beneficial to the environment meaning that, in a way, they recycle themselves. However, there is an ongoing debate as to whether the toxins released during this process may be damaging in the long run. New research shows that optimally, bioplastics should rather be broken down in an industrial process to ensure it is turned into compost material without negative consequences to the environment.

Some bioplastics plants have already converted their plants to include pyrolysis machines for their products.

3. Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

One of the major challenges faced by the plastic recycling industry is the separation process. it uses plastic waste recycling equipment for sale on market. Only some types of plastics are recyclable and each has it’s own recycling method.

To further exacerbate the problem, paper and ink that are used on plastic products make the separation process even harder. Separating these different plastics is labor intensive and to date, is still largely being performed manually.

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy takes some of the manual labor out of the separation process. However, the technology is expensive and not entirely reliable. New and innovative means to improve the way in which plastics can be separated are currently being researched.

At the end of the day, plastic products are the most difficult to recycle and the process is often too costly to be of any value to the recycling industry. To truly make a difference, production of plastics needs to be decreased across the globe.