Steps in the plastic recycling process

• Collection: Either in “single stream” or as a dedicated plastics stream, they are collected along with other recyclable items and transported to a municipal recycling facility (MRF).

• Sortation: At the MRF, plastics are separated from other recyclables through a series of ‘filters’ (infrared sensors, human sorters, magnets, and screens of different dimensions).

• Baling: PET (#1) and HDPE (#2) are collected separately because they are the most valuable and easily identified. These fractions are compressed into cubes and sold to reprocessors. (This used to be predominantly Chinese companies)

• Cleaning and shredding: The #1s and #2s are washed to remove food residue and labels, and shredded into flakes. The flakes are separated from each other using density (#1s sink, #2s float), and sold to another reprocessor.

  From here, it varies significantly. PET flake can be used to make new bottles or clothing fibers. HDPE can be made into non-food products like trashcans, composite decking, or other low-grade products. Other fractions are increasingly finding use in specialty applications. In industry, recycled resin is commonly added into virgin (non-recycled) resin to make products.