Market
Plastic Recycling
Plastic recycling is the process of recovering waste or scrap plastic and reprocessing these materials into other functional and practical products. Because almost all plastic is non-biodegradable, it must be recycled as part of the global efforts to reduce plastic?
All articles in this market
Plastic Recycling ? page 23 of 23
Promoted videos
Plastic Recycling in action
Ask the Expert
Ask a plastic recycling expert ? free
Engineers and product specialists who answer technical questions from readers. The answer comes back to you by e-mail; when we publish it, other readers benefit too.
Laetitia PaveauPellenc ST
Laetitia is the Marketing and Communications Director at Pellenc ST. An engineer by training, she has spent over 20 years driving innovation? Ask a question
Xu XifengJiangsu Keson Environment Technology Co., Ltd.
Xu Xifeng, the founder of Keson and vice president of Jiangsu Low Carbon Environment Design Institute of China. He has been engaged? Ask a question
Charles DaridonBollegraaf Group
Charles Daridon is the Director Global Sales of the Bollegraaf Group. Charles was born in Bretagne but has been living in the? Ask a question
Angelo MinoldiHSM GmbH + Co. KG
Angelo Minoldi is working in the environmental technology sector for almost 25 years, 20 years of that in the baling presses sector.? Ask a question
Market & Technology Focus
Plastic Recycling, in depth in your inbox
Every Thursday edition takes one market or technology in depth. These are the editions on this market ? read them online or get the next one by e-mail.
Our latest E-mail campaigns for Plastic Recycling
- Latest Advances in Plastics & Rubber Recycling August 27, 2026
- Breakthroughs in Recycling Technology for Plastics & Rubber May 14, 2026
- Advancements in Plastics and Rubber Recycling Technology January 29, 2026
- Top Stories: Innovations in Plastics and Rubber Recycling November 27, 2025
Subscribe to our E-newsletters
Join 28,000+ engineers, plant managers and technical buyers. Free, twice a week.
What this market covers
Frequently asked about plastic recycling
What equipment is used in plastic recycling?
A typical plastic recycling line combines sorting (manual and automated, including NIR and AI-driven optical sorters), size reduction (shredders and granulators), washing and decontamination, and finally extrusion or pelletizing to turn clean flake into recycled resin such as rPET, rHDPE or rPP.
What types of plastic can be recycled?
PET (#1) and HDPE (#2) are the most widely recycled resins, with growing markets for rPP (#5) and rLDPE (#4). PVC (#3), polystyrene (#6) and mixed or multilayer plastics (#7) are harder to recycle and usually need more specialised technology.
What is the difference between mechanical and chemical plastic recycling?
Mechanical recycling shreds, washes and re-melts plastic into new pellets — the most common and cost-effective route for clean, single-resin streams. Chemical recycling breaks plastic down into base monomers or feedstock, which can handle more contaminated or mixed plastics but typically needs a larger capital investment.
What affects the quality of recycled plastic such as rPET or rHDPE?
Odour, colour consistency, residual contamination (labels, adhesives, other polymers) and moisture are the most common quality issues. Investing in washing, decontamination and sorting accuracy has the biggest impact on the quality of the recycled output.