Recycler's Guide to Managing Degradable Plastics

The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) is the trade organization that represents plastic recyclers. They recently released a fact sheet outlining what recycling officials should know about degradable and bio-based plastics. The entire sheet is attached or can be found at http://plasticsrecycling.org/article.asp?id=57 but a sample of the info is below:

Are degradable plastics recyclable with standard PET or HDPE?
No. They're contaminants in the recycling stream. Degradable plastics should be collected so as to not interfere with cur­rent PET and HDPE container recycling.

Why can't bottles with degradable additive be recycled with standard plastic?
The additives change the expectations for a plastic. Bottles with degradable additives can be ground and melted like another bottle but with reduced quality and service life expectations.

"The facts are very clear," reports David Cornell, the Technical Director from the Asso­ciation of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR). "The degradable additive concept effectively renders the product using the additive non-recyclable. Many recycled plastics are used to make durable goods. Failure of these next-use products, such as carpets or piping, could range from distressing to tragic."

APR has seen no data which demonstrate no harm done during or after the recy­cling process. With the variety of durable end uses recycled plastics are used for, the idea of degrading material runs counter to value creation and good stewardship.

Keefe Harrison
United States