Is it possible to turn plastic back into the oil it was made from?
Yes, it is, and that is the good news!
An article from bbc.com by By Katherine Latham on 11th May 2021 explains what the future looks like regarding sustainable plastic recycling new solutions.
“Chemical Recycling” is the name of the new process that has been explored as a viable alternative to conventional recycling for decades. The biggest challenge is the price of crude oil sometimes makes it cheaper to produce new plastic products than to recycle existing plastic.
"Instead of a system where some plastics are rejected because they are the wrong colour or made of composites, chemical recycling could see all types of plastic fed into an "infinite" recycling system".
Every year, more than 380 million tonnes of plastic are produced around the world. That’s about the same as 2,700,000 blue whales – more than 100 times the weight of the entire blue whale population. Just 16% of plastic waste is recycled to make new plastics, while 40% is sent to landfills, 25% to incineration, and 19% is dumped.
Also, litter dropped in the street and lightweight plastics left in landfill sites or illegally dumped can be carried by the wind or washed into rivers by the rain, ending up in the ocean.
(To learn more, read the article from bbc.com)
“Chemical recycling is an attempt to recycle the unrecyclable. Instead of a system where some plastics are rejected because they are the wrong color or made of composites, chemical recycling could see all types of plastic fed into an “infinite” recycling system that unmakes plastics back into oil, so they can then be used to make plastic again.”
New solutions are being tested across the world. Good examples are companies like Plastic Energy which has plants in Spain and it is expanding the business to France, the Netherlands, and the UK; Ineos in the US, and Mura Technology in the UK – go to the article to learn more about it.
While better solutions are not available for all of us, what can be done?
The top five best recycling countries are Germany 5.6,1%, Austria 53,8%, South Korea 53,7%, Wales 52,2%, and Switzerland 49,7%. What can we learn from them?
Producers being responsible for the packaging waste they developed, new legislations, the complete ban of certain types of plastic, taxes, and education.
The former Environment Secretary Kim Eun Kyung from South Korea said: “To resolve the plastic waste crisis, society as a whole needs to change its ways of production, consumption, recycling and even the culture.”
Certified Green Cleaning has its Recycling Program where we reuse our plastic containers.
Our Recycling Program is available across Canada to all our clients. When delivering your new order, we collect our empty plastic containers to reprocess them in our plant and reuse them in the new order.
We also have available the option of buying CGC Wipes Refill and reusing the first plastic package you already have.
And of course, CGC Disinfectant is a green product, environmentally friendly, safe, and approved by Health Canada with evidence for use against COVID-19.
We have been leading the cleaning market since 2004. Count on us and let's do our part.
