Plastic Film Gets Recycled
Sep 13, 2022
During the recycling process, plastic film is brought into the facility in baled form and is then pulled apart by hand or by a guillotine. It is then fed into a shredder and water-fed grinder where it is cut into pieces. The film is then washed and inspected for contamination.
Once clean and dry, the film is placed into an extruder where heat and pressure melt the plastic. The molten plastic is then released from the extruder, formed into fine strands, cooled, and chopped into pellets. The pellets are used by manufacturers to produce new plastic film products.
Recycled plastic film is made into composite lumber, which is used for benches, decks, and playground sets. It is also recycled and reprocessed into small pellets that are used to make plastic containers, crates, pipes, new plastic bags, and pallets.
The effectiveness of plastic film recycling is a subject of debate among many in the industry. Plastic film recycling programs can succeed only if the recycler accumulates large quantities of material to recycle, which is one reason why it's collected at drop-off locations rather than curbside. Large retail stores collect plastic film from consumers and add it to the film generated by their own facility. They accumulate large quantities of it in a short time, which allows them to market full truckloads of film.
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