Chemical or Mechanical Recycling?

What are the differences between Chemical Recycling and Mechanical Recycling?

Recycling of plastics is a key tool in the fight to tackle plastic waste and plastic pollution. Mechanical recycling has been used for decades, however, the recent introduction of chemical recycling has allowed for the ability to process plastic waste that mechanical waste cannot treat.

Mechanical Recycling

Forming an essential component of the circular economy, Mechanical Recycling is the process of sorting waste materials into different material streams, without altering the chemical structure. The waste materials pass extensive manual or automated mechanical sorting processes designed to separate the different materials.

Once sorted, the material is shredded into smaller pieces before being washed to remove dirt and contamination. The shredded plastic is then sorted again before being sent to extrusion, the process of converting the shredded plastic into homogeneous pellets ready to use in the manufacture of new products.

Benefits of Mechanical Recycling:

· Cost-Effective

· Reduce the amount of post-consumer plastic waste sent to landfill.

· Reduction in plastic pollution

· Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

Chemical Recycling

Chemical recycling is a new process used for converting plastic waste into substances that can be used as raw materials for the manufacturing of new plastic products.

Chemical Recycling can be used in conjunction with other plastic recycling options, such as mechanical recycling, since it can deal with complex plastic waste, like films or laminates which would otherwise be sent to landfill or incinerated.

Benefits of Chemical Recycling:

· Reduce amount of post-consumer plastic waste sent to landfill.

· Facilities production of recycled plastic (recyclate) with virgin plastic properties

Chemical or Mechanical Recycling?

Chemical recycling is not in competition with mechanical recycling and the two processes complement each other to keep as much raw material as possible within the circular economy. Mechanical processes often form the beginning of the chemical recycling process chain to handle post-consumer input streams and ensure an energy-efficient material feed into the chemical recycling process.