Debunking Various Plastic Recycling Myths
The recycling process is constantly evolving and changing, which means that the industry has to keep changing with it. It also means that there are frequently myths surrounding industrial plastic recycling in Tennessee that are based on older methods and outdated information about recycling plastics. If you want to learn the truth about this industry, keep reading as we debunk some of the most common myths we’ve heard.
Companies Don’t Care about Recycling
From our experience, this simply isn’t true! Often, a lack of recycling in any given community can be linked to a lack of resources. If businesses don’t know where or how to recycle their plastic, they simply toss it out. That’s why it’s one of our main goals to educate businesses on our services. More often than not, once a company learns that they can not only recycle their industrial plastics with us, but they can actually be paid for it, they jump at the chance to start recycling.
People are as environmentally conscious as they’ve ever been right now, and they want to recycle. And, from a business standpoint, going green is great for your public image. So there are many reasons for companies to care about recycling–they just have to know how to go about it, and we’re here to help with that.
It Takes More Energy to Recycle
When you think about the entire recycling process, it can be hard to imagine how it could possibly save energy when compared to creating new products. That plastic needs to be hauled away, sorted, hauled again, ground up, cleaned, reprocessed, then hauled off again before it’s even ready to make a new product. So how can that save energy?
We won’t go into the particulars of comparing the recycling process versus the production process for industrial plastics, but suffice it to say that the energy savings are actually quite significant. In fact, in 2010, Franklin Associates, LTD, conducted a life cycle inventory that showed every pound of recycled PET flake used reduced energy use by 84% and GHG emissions by 71.1% when compared with using virgin PET flake. While these numbers don’t hold exactly true for every recycled material, recycling plastic always saves energy and emissions when compared to producing new plastic products.
Only Plastic Bottles Are Reusable
Many people seem to think that only plastic bottles and similar containers have a domestic market when recycled. This is simply not true. Here at Seraphim Plastics, we accept a huge range of industrial plastics; in fact, we don’t even accept those soda bottles everyone believes to be the only recyclable plastic out there! That’s because there is such a huge array of plastics that can be recycled, and we’ve decided to focus our recycling efforts on businesses.
The plastic recycling process has evolved significantly over the last decade. We’re now able to recycle a much wider range of plastics, and we can do it much more efficiently than we used to. From tubs to rigid plastic containers, it can all be processed and reused, so don’t throw out any of that plastic. Recycle it!
We hope we’ve shed some light on these common myths. And if you’re a business looking or plastic buyers in Tennessee, contact Seraphim Plastics LLC. We’ll buy your industrial plastics, putting money in your pocket and keeping that plastic out of the landfill. Give us a call to get started today!