Plastics

Recycling plastic is still difficult and only some London boroughs offer this service for specific types of plastic. There are a number of reasons for this:

• There are hundreds of varieties of plastic, which cannot necessarily be mixed in together for recycling

• Many plastic products may be made of several different types, combined with other materials - this makes it very difficult to separate the plastic for recycling

• it is difficult to collect and store plastic for recycling, and it is expensive to transport because of the material having a large volume but a low weight

What types of plastic can be recycled

The most common types of plastic collected for recycling are:

• clear plastic water or soft drinks bottles

• opaque plastic bottles such as milk containers

Some boroughs are able to recycle more types of plastic than this so check with your borough what types of plastic you are able to recycle.

Some supermarkets also provide recycling banks for plastic bags and sometimes plastic bottles.

How to recycle plastic

• Find out the type of plastic that can be recycled in your local area.

• Clean and dry the plastic bottle and put it into your collection bag/box/bin for recycling or before they go into the plastic recycling bank. You do not have to remove the label.

• Remove lids of bottles as these are made of a different type of plastic to the bottle itself.

If recycling plastic waste is difficult in your area, give some thought to how you can reduce the amount of plastic waste you generate - see the Reducing rubbish page for some ideas.

What plastic can’t be recycled

Combinations of plastic and other materials are difficult to recycle. Because there are so many different types it is often easier to look at what can be recycled, as this will eliminate all other types of plastic.

How plastic is recycled

Once the plastic has been collected it is often squashed and baled before being transported to a reprocessor for recycling. Once at the reprocessor, the plastic is sorted, often by trained staff, into the different types and colour.

The plastic recycling process can be complicated and there are a number of ways to reprocess plastic. In general it will go through various stages of heating, shaping and cooling. Heating softens or melts the plastic, where it can then be re-shaped and then it is cooled to retain its new form. It may also be shredded or melted down to produce granules which will be used to make other products.

Did you know?

• We produce and use 20 times more plastic today than we did 50 years ago!

• It takes 25 two litre plastic drinks bottles to make one fleece garment (Waste Online - plastics information)

• Recycling just one plastic bottle can save the same amount of energy needed to power a 60-watt light bulb for 6 hours (Ollie Recycles - plastics facts