Plastics have become an incredibly important part of our daily lives.

The amount of
plastics used in the US has increased nearly 20 times from what was used 50 years ago,1
and some post-consumer products can contain up to 20 different types of plastics alone.2
That means that there is a lot of plastic being produced every year, and most of it
eventually goes into the trash.

Unfortunately, much of the plastic that is thrown away every year

never makes it to the recycling. In 2012, only 9% of total plastic
waste generated in the US was recycled. That means that of the 32
million tons of plastic that was thrown away that year, less than 3
million tons was recycled. In 2012, nearly 30 million tons of plastic
waste was added to the nation's landfills.3

The amount of plastic going to waste each year isn't just a

tragedy from an environmental perspective. Much of the
plastic that ends up in landfills every year could be
repurposed and reused, which means that plastic waste
has a negative economic impact as well. For example,
in 2009 the value of wasted plastic was numbered
at $485 million, more than enough money for 1,000 US
households to live on the median income for almost a
decade.4

Fortunately, the numbers aren't all bad. While only a small amount of
total plastics are recycled every year, that number is on an upward
trend: from 7.1% in 20095 to 9% in 2012.6 On top of that, many
cities have introduced bans on plastic grocery bags, or plan to

in the future. These initiatives alone aren't enough,

but they are promising signs.

US businesses can help tackle the problem of recycled plastic

waste from two different fronts:

Sorting and recycling their plastics

Buying products made from recovered plastics

Both of these methods of reducing waste require a concerted

effort on the part of businesses, but they have become much

easier in recent years as awareness of the dangers of unrecycled plastics has increased.

One of the most common causes

of plastics not being properly
recycled is plastic not being
separated from regular waste, or
not being properly sorted. The RIC

identification code that is printed

on most plastic items (it's the
number inside the recycling logo)
each represent a different kind of

plastic, and each one of those

kinds of plastics requires a
different process to be recycled.7

The reason that different plastics

each require a different process
to be recycled is that the
different plastics all have slightly
different molecular structures.
These differences in chemical
makeup give each classification
of plastic slightly different
properties, which affects what
products they can be used in.
Sorting plastics when recycling
them makes sure that discarded
plastic makes it to the right place
for recycling, saving the time,
energy, and resources that would

otherwise have to be spent

separating them out.

There are many items commonly used by

US businesses that can be made from
repurposed plastic. There are currently
around 1,800 companies in the US that
handle post-consumer plastics,8 and
much of that plastic is reused to make
items such as CD and DVD cases, office
accessories, windows, flooring,
insulation, and furniture. By purchasing
these post-consumer plastic products,
US businesses can make a large dent in
the amount of unclaimed plastic filling
our landfills every year.

Polychem USA has been a market leader in plastic waste recycling since 1946. During

that time, the company has grown with the developments in the industry and the
world, always striving to stay at the forefront of the recycled plastic industry. Learn
more at http://www.polychem-usa.com/.

Sources
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

http://www.bir.org/industry/plastics/
http://www.bir.org/industry/plastics/
http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/plastics.htm
http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=recycling_facts_and_stats
http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=recycling_facts_and_stats
http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/plastics.htm
http://www.bir.org/industry/plastics/
http://environment.about.com/od/recycling/a/benefits-of-plastics-recycling.htm