Until recently, plastics have been more difficult to recycle than other materials such as metals, glass and paper, in part because plastics are more difficult to separate out of the waste stream. Particularly challenging has been sorting one type of plastic from another. While each type has unique chemical properties that require sorting prior to reprocessing, most plastics have similar physical properties that inhibit sorting.
In this week’s Movie, Mike Biddle of MBA Polymers discusses current state and future of plastics recycling, and the cost effective, energy efficient processes his company has developed to sort end-of-life plastics into material that can be reprocessed into new goods. The presentation was recorded in July 2011.
