Saturday, June 4, 2016

Plastic Recycling - Simple Methods for recycling plastic at home

  • Melt Plastic into sheets or blocks
    • Create an aluminium mold in a block formation with a screw on top to press the plastic into the mold firmly
    • Put all plastic of the same type and color into the mold
    • Put the entire mold filled with plastic into an oven, toaster oven, or other heat source at 425 degrees celcius for 30 mins
    • Take out and press down the plastic using chopsticks, clothespins, or any piece of wood
    • Repeat this process as many times as necessary to fill the mold, and allow the surface to be smooth
    • The resultant blocks can be sculpted or cut using any regular woodworking tools
    • Heat guns can be used to weld multiple blocks together
    • Any excess can be re-melted in other blocks
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Plastic Recycling - What plastics are things made of? What are the different types of plastic? What can they be turned into?


This is a list of the most common plastic items, the type of plastic they fall under, and what they can be recycled into
  • PET (1)(Generally Transparent, Stiff but flexible, Solvent Resistant, Gas and Liquid Barrier, Sinks, Inert, Does not degrade, no BPA)
    • Malleable at 75 Degrees Celcius
    • Melts at 250-260 Degrees Celcius (Does not lose it's form, must be formed)
    • Most Food & Beverage Bottles
    • Plastic Carpets
    • Clothing (Called Polyester, but same material as PET)
    • Generally absorbs some of whatever was stored in it previously, making it unsuitable for recycling into food grade material without additional effort. Best suited for simple recycling into any non-food related applications.
      • Best Recycled Uses - Rope, Fabric, Construction
  • HDPE (2)(Very Hard, Opaque (Milky white), Chemical Resistant, Gas Permeable, matt surface)
    • Malleable at 110-130 Degrees Celcius, (350 F)
    • All non-glossy, non-metal Bottle Caps (and the little security ring)
    • non-carbonated drink bottles
    • Utensils
    • Furniture
    • Toys
    • Buckets and Lids
    • Shampoo, Detergent, Chemical bottles and caps
    • snack packaging
    • cereal box liner
    • garbage bags
    • Supermarket bags
    • Orbit Gum Canisters
    • Nescafe creamer canister and lid
    • Burt's bees packaging
    • Water Tanks
    • Portable Gas Tanks
    • Tide bottles
  • PVC (3)(Corrosion Resistant, Low Temp Resistant, Bacteria and Microbe Resistant, Sinks)
    • Malleable at 100 Degrees celcius
    • Melts at 260 Degrees Celcius
    • Pipes, Gutters
    • Freezer Bags
    • Credit Cards
    • Cling Wrap (More popular, Clingier, Allows liquid and gas to pass)
    • Shrink Sleeve Labels (Big plastic label that covers entire product)

  • LDPE (4)(Tough, Flexible, Scratches Easily, Electrical resistant, Better impact strength than HDPE)
    • Malleable 105 - 115 degrees celcius
    • Agricultural, Heavy Duty Bags
    • Garbage Bags
    • Bubble Wrap
    • Films
    • Wire and cable
    • Cling Wrap (Less Clingy, Waterproof)
    • Transparent vegetable bags
    • Ziploc Bags
    • Large Toys (Slides, rocking horses, jungle gyms)
  • PP (5)(Polypropylene, Hard, Floats, Glossy smooth surface, Fatigue resistant, heat resistant, opaque, degrades in sunlight and heat)
    • Melts at 160-170 degrees celcius
    • Beer Crates, Pallets
    • Containers
    • Small Plant Pots
    • Yogurt, Pudding containers
    • Lunchboxes
    • Glad food containers
    • Kitchen Colanders
    • Cups
    • Snack Packaging (Biscuits, Dried Snacks)
    • Ziploc Freezer bags
    • Pringles Lids
    • Anything with a living hinge (Thin plastic bending back and forth like a tic tac cover)
    • Card holders/pages
    • Shampoo, chemical caps
    • Orbit Gum covers
    • Tide spout, cover and cap
  • PS (6)(Polystyrene, Can be foamed(EPS), Brittle, Breaks and splinters, "Crinkly", affected by fats and solvents, Releases harmful chemicals when heated or burned)
    • Malleable at 100 degrees celcius
    • Liquefies in Acetone
    • Cheap toys
    • Clothes hangers
    • Disposable Food containers
    • Disposable Cups, Plates, Cutlery
    • Packaging & insulation (EPS)
    • Coolers, Insulation
    • CD Cases
    • Disposable Razor handles
      • Not recycled due to large size
      • Best Recycled Uses - clothes hangers, park benches, flower pots, toys, rulers, stapler bodies, seedling containers, picture frames, and architectural molding
  • Other (7)(Does not belong to a major category, Can only be recycled with itself, should not be mixed with any other plastic, Contains BPA)
    • Dole fruit cups
    • Car Bumpers
    • Tape (Cellulose Acetate)
    • Polycarbonate
    • Polyurethane
    • Superballs
  • ABS(9)
    • Malleable at 105 degrees celcius
    • Lego
    • Monitor/TV cases
    • coffee makers
    • cell phones
    • most computer plastic
    • 3d printer filament
  • PA(PA)
    • Nylon
  • Other materials that are not plastics, but easily confused
    • Rubber
    • Epoxy
    • Fiberglass
    • Foam
    • Cellophane (Biodegradable, used in most snack packaging)
      • Sweet wrappers
      • Cookie wrappers
      • Clear Gift wrapping
  • Methods to melt plastic at home (1,2,5)
    • Sandwich makers and baking sheets
    • Toaster oven (or any oven) baking sheets and trays
    • Oven, Tin can
    • Metal screw caps
    • Metal Pipes
    • Metal strainers
    • Metal pipe & plunger with screw nozzle and heat source for simple injection molding
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