INDUSTRIAL PLASTIC RECYCLING RESOURCES
THE IMPACT OF RESINS REUSE ON THE BLUE PLANET
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plastics comprise 12% of municipal solid waste, with containers and packaging making up the largest part of that percentage. Durable polymer-based goods, such as building materials, appliances and furnishings contribute to the solid waste stream, as do non-durable items such as disposable beverage cups and diapers.
As of 2009, the overall reclamation rate reported by EPA was only seven percent of all waste resins. However, within that umbrella, 29% percent of all HDPE bottles and 28% percent of all PET (polyethylene terephthalate), both used for beverage packaging, underwent reprocessing. A mere 12% percent of styrofoam scrap made its way to a reprocessing center, and a scant 9% of polymer bags and wraps were reclaimed for re-use.
A bigger problem still is plastics pollution in our oceans and waterways. There are over 5 trillion pieces of plastic scrap in the world’s oceans. Each year over 7 million tons of plastic are added to our oceans, stressing an already fragile ecosystem of critical importance to our world’s environmental health. Though the oceans seem vast enough to stomach a lot of plastic, the level of waste is starting to reach a crisis point: According to a new report by the Ocean Conservancy, in partnership with the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, by 2025, the ocean could contain one ton of plastic for every three tons of finfish.
At Blue Planet Recycling we are doing our part to improve the reuse of industrial scrap plastic. With responsive pickup services for recycling in Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond and Calgary, Edmonton and Seattle. We offer a waste audit service to our industrial customers, consisting of an on-site evaluation and recommendations for developing responsible and value-added resin reprocessing programs.
THE RECLAMATION PROCESS
Re-purposing industrial scrap waste polymers begins with efficient pickup and transportation from one of our many industrial customers. Once plastics arrive to our facilities our technicians feed the sorted materials into grinding machines. Metal detection, de-dusting and filtering ensure superior results with a finished product ready for resale.
While Blue Planet’s facilities are located in Langley BC, we offer same-day pickup and delivery in surrounding areas, including Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, and Surrey. We have recently added Edmonton, Calgary and Washington State to our BC service areas.
We recycle in BC, Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey, Kelowna, Nanaimo, Okanagan, Alberta, Calgary, Edmonton, Washington State, Seattle, Everett, and Tacoma
Blue Planet is committed to serving local markets with sales and delivery of clean resin in pulverized, regrind or baled form for remanufacture. We are proactive in finding regional buyers for our products and support the North American manufacturing industry. We provide seamless, same-day pick-up service for recycling in Burnaby, recycling Vancouver, recycling Surrey, recycling Richmond and surrounding areas.
TYPES OF RECYCLABLE PLASTICS
RECYCLABLE TYPES OF PLASTIC MAY BE IDENTIFIED BY USING THIS TRIANGLE CODE CHART.
Image | Name | Polymer name | Used for | Recycled into |
---|---|---|---|---|
img 1 | Pet | Polyethylene terephthalate | Bottles, food packaging, Polyester fibres, strapping | Carpet fiber, fleece textiles |
img 2 | HDPE | High-density polyethylene | Milk jugs, playground equipment, pipe, totes | Totes, pipe, electrical components, plastic lumber |
img 3 | PVC | Polyvinyl Chloride | Pipe, window frames, fencing, blister pack | Electrical components, pipe, decking |
img 4 | LDPE | Low-density Polyethylene | Bags, clear film, molded lab equipment | Bags, plastic lumper |
img 5 | PP | Polypropylene | Auto parts, food containers, DVD cases | Agriculture pots, various injection parts |
img 6 | PS | Polystyrene | Signs, styrofoam, utensils | Reels, pallets, plant pots |
img 7 | Other | ABS, Acrylic, Polycarbonate | Sheet signs, windows, aircraft components | Pipe, flooring, electrical components |