PROCESS
Recirculation
Terminology
Worth knowing
- PSZOK - Selective municipal waste collection point
- RIPOK - Regional Installation for the Processing of Municipal Waste.
- PET - stands for "Polyethylene terephthalate." It is a type of plastic from the group of thermoplastic polymers, which has been widely used in the production of packaging, bottles, beverage containers and other products
GOZ - Closed-loop economy
It's a production and consumption model that relies on sharing, borrowing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. This extends the life cycle of products. In practice, this means keeping waste to a minimum. When a product's life cycle comes to an end, the raw materials and waste that come from it should stay in the economy, through recycling. They can be successfully reused, thus creating additional value.
ROP - Extended Producer Responsibility
A set of measures taken to ensure that introducers of products, including packaged products, bear either financial responsibility or financial and organizational responsibility at the life cycle stage of the product when it becomes waste.
Recycling
Means any recovery process by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances used for the original purpose or other purposes. This includes the reprocessing of organic material, but does not include energy recovery and reprocessing into materials to be used as fuels or for pit filling purposes.
Chemical recycling
is the term for a group of technologies that enable mixed and/or contaminated plastic waste to be converted into materials with properties identical to virgin plastics. Chemical recycling processes produce recyclates from difficult-to-recycle plastic waste, which are ideal for demanding end-uses such as food contact materials, medical applications or products with high safety requirements (e.g., for automotive use). Achieving such properties is not always possible with mechanical recycling.
Types of recycling
Forms of recovery
- Upcycling - is a form of recovery through recycling of waste plastics, which involves giving regranulates (recyclates) better properties than the original virgin raw materials. For example - from plastic packaging waste with base raw materials (e.g., PET) it is possible to obtain raw material with better technical parameters for the production of products for electrical engineering.
- Downcycling - as opposed to upcycling, this is a type of recycling of waste plastics that results in regranulates (recyclates) of lower value than the original plastics. This leads to the production of products that do not require excessive applications.
Polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride
Plastics
- PP - "polypropylene", is a type of thermoplastic material that has various useful properties and is widely used in many fields. PP is widely used in industry, medicine, packaging, automotive, electrical engineering and many other fields. It can be found in products such as food containers, bottles, tubes, cosmetic packaging, automotive components, laboratory tools, as well as in the manufacture of fabrics and textiles.
- PS - "polystyrene", is a thermoplastic plastic that is widely used in industry and everyday life. Polystyrene comes in several different varieties, the two most common being extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS). Polystyrene is widely used in the production of packaging, beverage cups, polystyrene-type food trays, building insulation, toys, household goods and many other products. Foamed polystyrene (EPS) is also a popular material for transportation packaging and thermal insulation.
- PVC - "polyvinyl chloride", (Polyvinyl Chloride), is one of the most widely used plastics in the world. PVC is made from vinyl chloride, and its properties can be adapted to different applications by changing the chemical composition or the manufacturing process. PVC is used in many fields, including construction, automotive, electronics, medicine, chemical industry and many others. It is used in the manufacture of pipes, windows, fittings, cables, films, packaging, household goods and other products.
High-Density Polyethylene and Low-Density Polyethylene
Polyethylene
- HDPE - "High-Density Polyethylene," which in Polish can be translated as "High-Density Polyethylene." It is a type of thermoplastic that is widely used for its properties and applications. HPDE is widely used in a variety of fields, including packaging, pipe and tubing, garden furniture, toys, chemical containers, electrical wire insulation, structural components and many others.
- LDPE - "Low-Density Polyethylene," which in Polish can be translated as "Low-density polyethylene." It is a type of thermoplastic material that has distinctive properties and is widely used. LDPE is used in the production of film, shopping bags, plastic bags, plastic bag food packaging, disposable gloves, liquid bottles and many other products. Because it is flexible and soft, it is ideal for products that require such properties.