About recycling

Recycling method

Recycling is one method of saving limited natural resources such as petroleum through cyclical use of resources and reducing the environmental impact as much as possible. A typical example of recycling is making new PVC pipes from used PVC pipes. Recycling is not limited to this kind of material recycling, but is now called recycling as all methods of reusing disused items and waste as resources. Recycling waste plastics into raw materials for plastics is not necessarily easy both technically and economically. If you try to recycle it by force, you may end up wasting resources and increasing the environmental load. There are various approaches to recycling, besides material recycling, there are feedstock recycling and energy recovery. Therefore, it is important to consider the state and situation of waste plastics and select an appropriate recycling method from the perspective of whether new resource input and environmental impact can be reduced, and the social cost is low.

Material Recycling, MR
(mechanical recycling, material recycling)

A recycling method in which used plastic products are used again as resin material for the same product or another plastic product. In order to meet the quality standards for resin materials, it is necessary to remove foreign matter and dirt, and basically use only plastics of the same type and with equivalent physical properties. For this reason, operations such as separate collection, sorting, crushing, separation, washing, and collection are required. In Europe, it is also called mechanical recycling.

Feedstock Recycling, FR
(chemical recycling, chemical (raw material) recycling)

A recycling method in which used plastic products are thermally decomposed at high temperatures to produce chemical raw materials such as synthesis gas and cracked oil, or chemically decomposed to return to monomers, or converted into other chemical substances for use. Even if different types of plastic are mixed together, or if there is foreign matter or dirt, it can be recycled if there are no problems with the process. It is also called chemical recycling because it changes the chemical structure.

Energy Recover, ER
(thermal recovery, energy (heat) recovery)

A recycling method that uses used plastic products as fuel for steam, power generation, cement kilns, etc. This is a rational recycling method for municipal waste mixed with kitchen waste, waste plastic, etc., and for plastic products that are difficult to separate and sort from other waste. It can also be used as a solid fuel together with combustible materials such as paper and wood.

Types of recycling - 3 methods