Ultimate Updated on February 12, 2024

There’s an entire lot of discourse throughout the zero waste neighborhood about recycled plastic. As soon as I first started going zero waste, every truly and the weblog, I hyper focused on plastic in an enormous method. I needed to remain a really plastic free lifestyle, even a life-style free of recycled plastic, nonetheless then I started finding out way more about recycled plastic provides, emissions, and looking on the better picture. 

Recycled plastic merchandise positively have their place in a sustainable lifestyle. Recycled plastic supplies is far more eco nice than sourcing raw provides. Purchasing for merchandise product of eco nice plastic is helpful for buyers looking for to chop again their waste with out having to determine to totally reusable devices. So what can plastic be recycled into? Study on to go looking out out!

This publish was sponsored by Rhyme & Motive. All concepts and opinions are my very personal. For further data, please see my disclosure protection. 

recycled plastic merchandise

One in every of my favorite points about sustainability is that it’s nuanced. It seems like I might be taught one factor new day by day as science evolves and as I proceed to be taught further. 

After doing pretty just a little bit of study into raw provides, what I’ve found is that recycled content material materials truly is way extra eco-friendly than virgin provides. Yep, even recycled plastics. 

For example, Rhyme & Motive is a hair care mannequin that truly pushes the boundaries in relation to sustainability.  They supply hair care merchandise in 100% publish shopper recycled provides — along with the cap (a world first). They went with a plastic bottle so it could very properly be squeezed to steer clear of the need for a pump.

Pumps are constructed from so many different provides that they’re unrecyclable. By selecting recycled plastic merchandise, that they had been ready to mildew their bottles into rectangles. The sq. kind makes the pack 20% extra room setting pleasant than a spherical bottle, serving to to cut back emissions from transport.

why I assist recycled plastics: 

There’s rather a lot plastic on the earth — we should be turning it into one factor. In precise truth, we shouldn’t be using any virgin plastic! In any case, basically essentially the most eco nice plastic is the one which already exists.

And if we’re going to complain about solely 9% of plastics ever being recycled, then wouldn’t we want to assist people who’re working to boost that amount? 

The actual fact is in relation to emissions, plastic is lighter to ship than glass and much more eco-friendly than strip mining for metals. My buddy Shelbi did an superior YouTube video on this the place chances are you’ll be taught further. 

data on recycled plastics: 

Recycling is worth environment friendly and good for the environment on account of it conserves the fossil gasoline (aka crude oil) used to manufacture it.

Helpful useful resource extraction for virgin plastic provides has a particularly extreme carbon footprint. For plastic, most of it is derived from oil drilling and/or fracking. 

Ethane cracker facilities flip ethane into ethylene, a developing block in commonest plastics. Nonetheless, these facilities are associated to principal native climate detriments. 

After we use recycled plastic, we reduce down on the amount of crude oil that should be extracted from the earth unsustainably. 

In precise truth, in response to the Affiliation of Plastic Recyclers (APR), using recycled plastic merchandise reduces vitality consumption and greenhouse gasoline emissions. The report seems to be like at three resins — PET, HDPE, and PP — and it concludes that recycled plastic decreased full vitality consumption by 79% for PET, 88% for HDPE, and 88% for PP. 

Recycled resin moreover reduce emissions over virgin supplies by 67% for PET, 71% for HDPE, and 71% for PP. Take into consideration what variety of emissions we’d save if every product was pressured to utilize 100% recycled content material materials.

Moreover, recycling saves water. It is as a result of the extraction of virgin raw provides and manufacturing them into single use devices makes use of up water. Recycling reduces the need for provides, thus making a smaller water footprint.

what are the problems with recycling plastic?

Is recycled plastic with out its faults? In spite of everything not. Nonetheless neither is any supplies. One in all many principal points is what variety of kinds of plastic there are. In distinction to glass or aluminum, there are seven predominant kinds of plastic (and way more previous that), which makes recycling all of them robust. 

Solely 9% of plastic will get recycled. That is due to plenty of elements, nonetheless the primary one is confusion on the part of the client. Prospects see the mobius picture (the chasing arrows or recycle sign) and assume, ‘I can recycle this’ — or they merely put it throughout the recycling bin on account of they’re wishcycling. Additional on that in a bit.

the precept points with recycling plastic:

• Merchandise can embrace plenty of kinds of plastic and completely completely different layers which can be laborious to separate, making it robust and costly to recycle them. 
• Wishcycling is when you’re pretty sure one factor isn’t recyclable, nonetheless you place it throughout the recycling bin anyway. Doing this may occasionally contaminate your full bin. As quickly because the bin is contaminated, not one of many devices inside are recycled.
• Plastics can get contaminated with meals and completely different substances, making it unsanitary to reuse. For that reason it’s important to on a regular basis rinse out your recyclables first.
• It costs tens of hundreds of thousands of {{dollars}} to assemble and performance a recycling facility and it’s solely worthwhile if patrons are eager to purchase the bales of sorted plastics. The worth fluctuates based totally on present and demand. Bales are supplied on the commodities market the place brokers buy and promote recyclables like they’d agricultural merchandise. No purchaser? No recycling. 
• It’s moreover important to note every state has completely completely different recycling authorized pointers in place. So, what’s accepted in Texas for recycling won’t be true for New York. This largely has to do with the type of recycling facilities the state has entry to.

so which plastics will probably be recycled?

The plastics which have the best chance of being recycled embrace polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). 

In all probability essentially the most extensively recycled plastic on the earth is PET, which you’ll know by the resin identification code as #1. PET makes up water bottles, clear plastic cups, and some clear clamshells.

HDPE is accepted at most recycling amenities on the earth, as a result of it’s one in all many greatest plastic polymers to recycle. Milk jugs, shampoo bottles, and detergent bottles are normally constructed from this supplies. 

In accordance with a 2020 report from Greenpeace, solely PET and HDPE bottles and jugs meet the Federal Commerce Charge’s (FTC) definition of recyclable. This doesn’t suggest that PET and HDPE are on a regular basis recycled. Nonetheless it does suggest there’s the subsequent demand for these provides on the market. 

Plastics #3-#7 are a bit further subtle to recycle. Proper right here’s what they’re:

• Resin #3: Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is used to make automotive oil bottles, plumbing pipes, and vinyl siding. Not recyclable in common assortment.
• Resin #4: Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is used to make plastic film, squeeze bottles, and frozen meals baggage. Most municipalities acquired’t accept LDPE, nonetheless chances are you’ll recycle plastic film at specified plastic film drop off areas.
• Resin #5: Polypropylene (PP) is used to make yogurt containers, water bottle caps, and RX containers. Depart the caps on water bottles to be recycled with them, till your state says in every other case.
• Resin #6: Polystyrene (PS) is used to make plastic utensils, event cups and straws. Not recyclable.
• Resin #7: Completely different – Used to make toys, DVDs/CDs, and lenses. Usually made using a few resin from lessons 1-6. Not recyclable. 

For further data, see my weblog publish on the 7 kinds of plastic you could possibly know. 

plastic recycling myths: 

As soon as I first started reducing plastics in my life, plastic was truly solely being ‘recycled’ into points like park benches and tempo bumps. 

They’d been taking all 6 kinds of plastic, mixing them collectively, and mechanically recycling them into sturdy objects. That’s the means you get plastic #7 — it’s merely a mix of all of the issues. Once you hit that point, there’s truly no going once more. 

Nonetheless, recycling know-how has improved A LOT. Now points are recycled by their explicit particular person numbers, each mechanically or chemically. 

chemical recycling for truly eco nice plastic

Chemical recycling nonetheless has a strategies to go. Nonetheless, it ensures to hold the merchandise once more to its genuine sort with none lack of top quality — which is perhaps pretty cool. 

In accordance with Colin O’Kell, a Technical Supervisor in Packaging at Rhyme & Motive: “Most moldable is at current mechanically recycled, which suggests earlier provides are ground up after sorting and cleaning, which damages the polymer chains and means plastic can solely be recycled a restricted amount of situations.”

“With chemical recycling, the plastics are dealt with so that they return to a plastic precursor substance that will then be processed once more into plastic. There’s now a model new breakthrough know-how referred to as enzymatic recycling the place the bonds all through the plastics are dissolved with enzymes, leaving good polymer chains; this ends in plastic that is practically pretty much as good as virgin plastic and makes plastic infinitely recyclable.” A extremely eco nice plastic!

what can plastic be recycled into?

Now that we’ve established plastics actually CAN be recycled, what can plastic be recycled INTO? There’s a surprisingly huge choice of merchandise:

• Polyester material for clothes
• Picnic tables
• Backyard furnishings
• Shampoo bottles (like Rhyme & Motive!)
• Plastic ‘lumber’ for decks
• Crown molding
• Playground gear
• Recycling bins
• Flower pots, seed trays, watering cans
• Drink bottles and meals trays
• Tempo bumps
• Web site guests cones
• Counter tops
• Carpeting
• Laptops
• Tech
• Plastic waste sorting bins
• Setting up provides
• Eco bricks
• Backpacks
• Sneakers

And that’s merely the tip of the iceberg. With will enhance in know-how, and the sheer amount of plastic we at current have throughout the waste stream, every product should be utilizing PCR. 

rhyme & trigger’s recycled plastic supplies

I imagine Rhyme & Motive is principal one of the best ways. They’re using 100% PCR and even developed the world’s first cap constructed from 100% recycled supplies. Given that bottle is pure plastic #2, chances are you’ll put it throughout the recycling bin to be recycled again and again. 

I hope we see way more producers switch on this path. 

In accordance with Colin, “An unlimited part of whether or not or not a material will in all probability be recycled is whether or not or not there is a use for the recycled supplies as quickly because it has been reprocessed. The dearth of an end market for recycled provides has held up the occasion of a recycling infrastructure for polypropylene — the plastic used to make bottle caps. Because of bottle caps are so difficult, it’s much more sturdy to make these out of recycled provides.”

“Then, on account of no person must make use of the recycled supplies, there’s no funding throughout the recycling infrastructure, so the material is low top quality, making it extra sturdy to utilize and meaning no person must make use of it! It’s a vicious circle! That’s why it’s so important that the caps on Rhyme & Motive bottles are made with recycled PP. Rhyme & Motive has met the technical and supply challenges to hold one factor truly groundbreaking to the utilization of recycled provides. Hopefully, it’ll set off completely different producers to watch go properly with and kick start the spherical present chain by making a requirement for recycled PP.”

faqs

what does chemical recycling promise for the long term?

Chemical recycling is so promising! It opens the door to recycling more durable kinds of plastic, along with multilayer and contaminated plastics. It will flip garbage proper right into a worthwhile commodity and improve the demand for recycled plastics. This all benefits buyers and the environment in the long run!

what kinds of merchandise can you get from rhyme & trigger?

Rhyme & Motive is a hair care agency that sells extreme effectivity shampoos, conditioners, and curl merchandise. You’ll moreover uncover ending serums and plant protein restore serums! They’re moreover PETA licensed cruelty free and vegan.

the place can i buy rhyme & trigger hair care merchandise?

To purchase, go to Rhyme & Motive’s website. From there, choose the product and observe the shoppable hyperlink. Counting on the product, you can purchase from Boots, Amazon, or Purpose. Proper now, you cannot make purchases straight from their website.

Would you give Rhyme & Motive a shot? Let me know in case you occur to’ve tried their merchandise sooner than throughout the suggestions!