Eli5 why we can’t melt plastic down and use it to add to asphalt

Question

I keep reading about how most plastic can’t be recycled and goes to the landfills instead.

With our technology, why can’t we melt it down, using some sort of scrubbers/filters to capture the emissions, and add it to asphalt or other industrial uses?

At the very least it seems like we could reuse that plastic for non food items that are typically used once and tossed.

In: 9

Answer 1

The first issue is you have to sort it first which is more expensive than its worth. The second thing is that plastic is very hard to recycle, and most of it can’t be. When you melt it down and reform it, it doesn’t form the same structure easily.