What Can Recycled Plastics Become? ｜July 27th, 2021.
The massive amount of plastic wasted requires us to rethink our disposal habits and ask the question: What can recycled plastic become? Thankfully, there’s no shortage of answers.
Each year the world produces 380 million tons of plastic — only 9% of which gets recycled. Much of this plastic ends up in the ocean and damages the environment, and even the parts that are attempted to be recycled can end up in landfills anyway.
As valuable as recycling efforts are in reducing the amount of plastic waste that harms the planet, downfalls in the current waste economy are forcing civilians and businesses alike to rethink the way they recycle materials and shift towards total product transformation. This means that instead of repurposing plastic items into the same products that they were before (which is sometimes a viable option), the question now being asked is: “What can recycled plastic become?”.
While the downside of plastic materials is that their durability keeps them around for a long time, the advantage they bring is that they can be transformed multiple times before they are completely degraded. Doing so not only reduces the number of new plastics that must be produced but cuts into the enormous quantity of plastics that are disposed of every day. As we’ll see, some plastic renovators makeover their old waste into style.
1. Clothing and Accessories
Perhaps the most common (and stylish) transformations of those old plastic bottles are the ones you may be wearing right now. From polyester to spandex and nylon, many of the fibers in your clothes are already some form of plastic, so it only makes sense to convert plastic waste into eco-friendly apparel. Some common articles of clothing that are made from recycled plastics include:
- Shoes — one plastic bottle makes one pair of shoelaces
- Shirts — 10 bottles yield enough plastic fiber for one new t-shirt
- Sweaters — 63 bottles will be enough to keep you warm in the winter with a sustainable sweater
- Swimwear — Over 220,000 plastic bottles have been kept from the sea by just one eco-friendly designer
Most of these clothing items get their raw material by shredding recycled plastics into fine filaments which can be used as fibers or stuffing, but others may be further processed to form products with entirely different structures. An example would be the melting of plastic pellets into beads to form jewelry or synthetic leather materials for purses and backpacks — proof that nature and fashion can mix.
2. Household Items and Furniture
Similar to the shredding of lightweight polyethylene terephthalate (PET, often categorized as plastic #1) to create synthetic fibers, sturdier plastics can also be ground down and melted to form fibers, pellets, and more complex products from there. Examples of this higher-density polyethylene (HDPE, or #2 plastic) include:
- Detergent bottles
- Milk jugs
- Bottle caps
- Thicker all-purpose shopping bags
Like #1 plastics, once these denser plastics have been broken down into smaller components, their filaments can be made to form household items like yoga mats, area rugs, and blankets, or they can be used as stuffing for couches and love seats. If they are recast into a different geometry, they can be molded into rigid furniture like tables or chairs.
3. Bins and Containers
Further ascending in complexity, the ground pellets associated with repurposed #2 and other plastics can be formed into larger items like bins and containers. The process is the same as the recasting and molding that turns recycled plastics into furniture, but other examples include:
- Bottle caps that may have come from former bottle caps
- Storage bins from former detergent bottles
- Crates that double as furniture, which could be recycled from previous furniture
In true zero-waste recycling, the makers of Ecobin have developed a recycling bin that not only comes from recycled plastics, but can be recycled itself once it has run its course. This way, the vessel isn’t wasted.
4. Building and Construction
Just as more complex products can be built as recycled plastics are broken down and reprocessed, so can these new products be used to create a whole new world.
Recycled plastic materials are increasingly gaining traction as a building material for both residential and commercial structures. From our own mobile hospital wards in Taiwan made in large part from recycled PET bottles to Trashpresso, the world’s first mobile, solar-powered recycling plant that produces upcycled architectural tiles, Miniwiz specializes in integrating once-wasted plastics into modern-day building materials.
Other innovators have also developed cinder block alternatives made by compressing recycled plastics into pressurized blocks for construction — and unlike their concrete counterparts, they don’t crack or crumble.
5. Parks and Rec
The point of recycling plastic products is to preserve the environment, so it’s only fitting that many repurposed plastics be used for the great outdoors. Many environmental products are made from recycled plastics, including:
- Sleeping bags for camping (114 bottles can give enough stuffing to fill a sleeping bag)
- Park benches (recast and molded from pellets, as with tables and chairs)
- Rubber chips for playgrounds that are ground down from plastic waste
- Rakes and lawn equipment, made perhaps from former rakes
- Planters for gardens, made from former bottle caps
These are just a few of the many outdoor products that can be made from recycled plastics, but one thing is sure: when we recycle plastics into goods that bring us closer to nature, we receive a double benefit from our innovation.
What Can Recycled Plastic Become? Almost Anything!
The massive quantity of plastics disposed of in landfills and the sea are already placing our planet in a state of critical mass — and with demand for plastics expected to increase, the stakes will only get higher. This forces us to rethink our old recycling habits and how products are made entirely.
At Miniwiz, our recycling experts have been preparing to answer that question since our inception. We’ve always asked the question: “What can recycled plastic become?”, and as our zero-waste recycling solutions suggest, we’ve found many answers. From sustainable plastic furniture to upcycled building materials, we know the future of recycled plastics is bright.
If you have a need for recycled plastic transformation, contact us today, and we’ll show you just how bright it is.