Eli5 why are so few plastics recyclable? Why cant you just melt it down and reuse it like glass?
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There are 2 broad categories of plastics. Thermoset plastics and thermoplastics. Thermoset plastics don’t melt, they burn so you can’t melt them down. When they’re made, they cure and are much stronger than thermoplastics. Thermoplastics melt but are much weaker, because they’re weaker, manufactures often put glass fiber in them to reinforce it which makes it much more difficult to recycle.
The major problem is among all the recyclable plastics is they need to be separated into their different types in order to be recycled, and the plastic degrades so virgin material needs to be added into each batch. You can mix different types, but the material you out of it is usually of lesser quality and used to make things like carpet and insulation for winter coats.
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