Why Plastic Recycling Companies Want Your Plastic Waste - PDF document

Why Plastic Recycling Companies Want Your Plastic Waste Plastic recycling companies like ours are constantly on the lookout for post-industrial plastic waste. We love it. It’s our business. In fact, we want as much as we can get our hands on. This may seem contrary to what many people believe about recycling, but it is the reality of our business. We want to explain why. Understand that Seraphim Plastics recycles and sells a variety of post-industrial materials. We sell HDPE 4-10 regrind, polypropylene 3-6 re-grind, and more. We do not purchase plastic waste just to turn around and send it to a landfill. We actually repurpose it. Industrial vs. Consumer Waste You’ve undoubtedly heard claims that plastic recycling is a myth. Critics talk about how only a small fraction of the plastics produced in the U.S. ever get recycled. Most end up in landfills. Yet their claims don’t tell the whole story. They do not discern between industrial and consumer plastics. The ‘recycling is a myth’ concept really applies to consumer plastics. We are talking plastic water bottles, kitchen utensils, etc. It’s true that the vast majority of these plastics never get recycled. You put them in the curbside bin and let the trash hauler take them away. But the eventual destination is the landfill. The same is not true for industrial plastics. Why? The primary reason is one of purity. Consumer products are not always made with a single type of plastic. Their lack of purity makes it too costly to recycle them. Commercial plastics are different. They tend to be cleaner and of a higher grade; recycling them is much more cost-effective. Recycling vs. Downcycling The purity problem leads to downcycling, rather than recycling, of consumer plastics. For example, recycled plastic water bottles are rarely turned into new water bottles. They are used to make things like rugs and running shoes. Those new products ultimately end up in landfills at the end of their lives. What you have is not genuine recycling. It is downcycling. Downcycling is certainly better than nothing at all. But it’s not as good as genuine recycling. Post-industrial plastics are recycled and repurposed to make new industrial products. Old plastic pallets become new pallets. Worn-out plastic bins become brand-new plastic bins. A Viable Business Model The long and short of it is this: recycling post-industrial plastic waste is a viable business model that makes money. It is no more difficult than that. A plastics recycling company like ours doesn’t need government subsidies to remain in operation. We do not have to rely on state grants or donations from nonprofits. We stay in business because our customers want the recycled plastics we sell. They turn our plastic scrap, regrind, and pellets into new industrial products they can turn around and sell. The fact that we are all making money here proves that it works. We want your post-industrial plastic waste because it is our livelihood. And while we are building a successful business and employing local workers, we are also helping to keep tons of plastic waste out of landfills. We are giving our customers access to cost-effective, clean, high-grade plastics that are the lifeblood of their businesses. It is a win-win for everyone. Recycling might be a myth when it comes to consumer plastics, but it is a reality in the industrial world. We prove it every day. If you have post-industrial plastics you normally send to a landfill, get in touch with us. We might be able to purchase them from you. And if you are looking to buy recycled plastics for your business, be sure to ask about the products we sell.