There has been a lot of chatter in recent years about chemical recycling of old plastics. Chemical recycling has its advantages over mechanical recycling, but it also has its disadvantages. I find it interesting that in the midst of all the talk, mechanical recycling hasn’t gotten much attention – despite being older and more reliable.
Seraphim Plastics is a Tennessee company that has relied for years on mechanical recycling to do what they do. Seraphim purchases and recycles industrial scrap plastic from companies in multiple industries. Their process is as simple as can be. It is also efficient and profitable.
Post-Industrial vs. Post-Consumer Plastics
Before getting into how mechanical recycling works, it is important to distinguish between post-industrial and post-consumer plastics. Seraphim and its competitors specialize in post-industrial plastics. Theoretically, mechanical recycling could be just as effective for post-consumer waste provided we were willing to make some systemic changes in the way we do things.
Post-industrial plastics are plastics utilized during industrial processes. The scrap from such processes never makes it to the consumer. Picture a manufacturer who makes plastic eyewear frames through injection mold manufacturing. The scrap produced by their manufacturing process would be considered post-industrial scrap.
Post-consumer plastics are plastic products that consumers handle directly. Think of water bottles, food containers, and so forth. Even a pair of plastic sunglasses becomes consumer plastics once purchased from the store.
Post-Industrial Recycling
Post-industrial plastic recycling can be accomplished either chemically or mechanically. Mechanical recycling has been around for a long time. It is what Seraphim Plastics and its competitors have been doing for years. It’s a pretty simple process.
Seraphim will send a truck to pick up plastic waste from a manufacturer. The waste is not mixed with anything else. It is also not contaminated. It gets transported directly back to Seraphim’s processing facility where it is unloaded before being sent through a series of grinders and magnets to reduce it to small pellets. The pellets are sold as regrind that gets mixed with virgin plastic by manufacturers.
Mechanical recycling can also transform plastic waste into small chips that can subsequently be melted down to create everything from water bottles to two plastic fibers that are spun into threads before becoming fabric.
Some post-industrial recyclers also accept PET water bottles that have been cleaned and decontaminated. Those bottles are shredded into fine flakes. From there, they become everything from new water bottles to sneakers to plastic parts for electronics.
Post-consumer Recycling
Post-consumer plastic recycling, which is done at the community level, also relies on mechanical means. But it is a bit different in the sense that plastics do not go to the recycling facility already separated and cleaned. Therein lies the big difference between post-industrial and post-consumer recycling.
What Seraphim Plastics does is efficient and profitable because staff members don’t have to sort and clean plastics. The industrial scrap comes to them already cleaned and separated. Who does the work? The customer. Seraphim purchases scrap plastic. They are essentially paying the customer to do the work for them.
In a post-consumer scenario, the recycler needs to manage cleaning and sorting. Considering what goes into America’s recycling bins, this is a tall order. It is also what prevents post-consumer plastic recycling from being profitable. That’s why so many programs are folding.
Mechanical recycling is a cheap, efficient, and effective way to turn plastic waste into reusable material. Is not merely as advanced as chemical recycling, and it does have its drawbacks. But by and large, mechanical recycling has proven itself a worthwhile endeavor by those willing to do it in an efficient manner.
