Post #1825549
2026-05-01 00:30 UTC
@resplendent606@climatejustice.social
As someone who worked half my career in plastics production, this is fact. We could only reuse plastic in our supply chain if it was free of any contamination or it would clog up the extruder breaker plates or damage the crazy expensive machined extruder itself. And the longer the polymer is in that heat cycle, the stringier it gets until it turns goey blob, making it totally unusable.
The most we could recycle if it was 99.999% free of contaminants was about 15% regrind and that was significantly lowering the physical qualities like strength and other QA requirements.
Ask any janitor where that plastic recycling bin goes, "same place as the rest, out back in the dumpster."
Replies (1)
-
@resplendent606@climatejustice.social 2026-05-01 02:38
@dianea So true. This is the reality people don't want to hear. Even in perfect industrial conditions, you’re only getting a 15% mix before the quality falls off a cliff. We aren't "recycling" plastic into new bottles. We are slowly downcycling it into a gooey, unusable blob until it eventually ends up in the dumpster anyway. It’s a delay tactic, not a solution.