Go green: tips on how to recycle plastic
When it comes to recycling, plastic is one of the most important items to recycle, as an average plastic beverage container can take between 100 to 450 years to disintegrate
POLOKWANE – As plastic is a non-biodegradable material (not easily broken down by nature and returned to the earth), several methods have been devised to reuse plastic instead of producing more plastic products. Plastic recycling involves melting down plastic beverage containers and then recasting them as plastic tables or chairs.
Recycling materials are usually separated to make it easier to process them, for example, glass must be put into a different recycling bin than plastic or paper and cardboard.
This means people who are interested in recycling have to distinguish between the different materials used for recycling and the separate bins they need to be placed in.
Tips for household recycling:
• Do not wash the bottles when collecting as it is a waste of valuable water
• Flatten the containers or bottles before transporting. This takes up less space and more can be transported per trip
There are several shopping centres and stores where recycling bins can be found if people are unable to do recycling at home.
Some tips for collecting plastic:
What to collect?
All containers labelled with the no 1 polymer identification code ( a little number in a triangle) on or near the bottom of bottles and containers.
Preparation tips:
• Remove bottle caps
• Sort according to colour
Items that cannot be recycled but which are also made of plastic include:
• Any plastic that does not have a polymer identification code on it
• Mixed polymers
• PET bottles covered in PVC labelling
For more information on the collection and recycling of plastic, you can contact the National Recycling Forum (NRF). They can be contacted at (011) 675 3462/4 or via e-mail on iwmsa1@telkomsa.net.
You can also visit their website at www.recycling.co.za.
