Can Plastics of All Types Be Recycled?

Can Plastics of All Types Be Recycled?

All plastics can not be recycled. There are a number of types of plastics including PET, HDPE, and LDPE but recycling can be a different task for each type, considering that every kind of plastic possesses different physical & chemical properties affecting their recyclability. Also, some plastics are mixed with other kinds of plastic and making it difficult to be environmentally and economically viable to recycle.

Recycling is a big budget process costing millions of dollars which can be highly profitable only when the amount of plastic to be recycled is huge and has favorable properties. Otherwise, lesser quantities are non-economical and non-profitable for the process of recycling.

In spite of these drawbacks, the products created from recycled plastic are incredible. India is a huge recycling economy with a great growth rate. The PET bottle recycling industry in India accounts for more than INR 5000 crores with a recycling rate of over 90%. Ganesha Ecosphere is one of the top contributors with a market share of 15-17% already. It has launched the brand Go Rewise which manufactures high-quality rPET products such as rPET flakes, rPET chips bottle grade, and rPET fully-drawn yarn.

IMPORTANCE OF PET PLASTIC

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic is the most recyclable plastic which can be recycled completely. It is used in hard plastic containers such as bottles, jars, etc. Additionally, it is a very inert material and is proven to be safe for storage purposes, even for beverages, pharmaceutical products, and eatables. It can be recovered and recycled into new products, again and again, reducing the number of resources wasted. 

PROCEDURE USED BY GANESHA ECOSPHERE FOR RECYCLING PET PLASTIC WASTE BOTTLES

Manufacturing rPET Flakes

1. Collection of PET waste bottles from across the country.
2. Dust removal & Pre-washing to clean & remove dust
3. Sorting process (removing non-PET material including other plastics).
4. Grinding, Washing & Separation where PET bottles are shredded & washed in multi-stages using highly automated technology
5. Drying and Final Sorting to remove excess moisture and any leftover unwanted materials and degraded PET flakes

Manufacturing rPET Chips 

1. rPET flakes obtained in the earlier process are pre-dried to remove excess moisture and then melted
2. The melt goes through further filtration to remove any leftover decontamination
3. Through under-water pelletizing, the melt is converted to rPET chips
4. Depending on the end application, these pellets are crystallized & go through solid-state polycondensation to achieve desired properties

OUR ROLE

With the launch of our brand Go Rewise, Ganesha Ecosphere aims at building a circular economy along with the capacity to recycle around 20-25% of Indian PET bottle waste in near future. Our organization is working effectively on recycling, particularly PET bottles with the use of the right technology and a sustainable approach.