The 5 best recycling ideas for plastic bottles

We use and throw away an incredible amount of plastic bottles every day. It is true that most people throw them in the recycling bin. But what else can you do to take advantage of these empty plastic bottles. How can you reuse plastic bottles? If you don’t know where to start, we will show you the 5 best uways to reuse empty plastic bottles that most people don’t know about.

The best recycling ideas for plastic bottles – Multipurpose spatula

If the plastic bottle has a handle to it, you can cut it from the bottle and by just doing that, you will already have a multipurpose spatula. Now, you can use your recycled bottle spatula to serve rice, spices or whatever you want.

The best recycling ideas for plastic bottles – Toothbrush holder

Another great idea to recycle plastic bottles is as original as it is practical. Take a 50cl bottle and cut it in half with a hot knife. Then, roll up your toothbrush and toothpaste in a small towel, and place the roll inside the bottle. Screw on the lid and you will have a dental kit that does not get wet and protects your toothbrush.

The best recycling ideas for plastic bottles – Plate separator

Probably one of the least known ways to recycle plastic bottles, is to use them to build a tower of dishes. For this purpose you will need 5-liter bottles. Cut the bottle into four horizontal sections and you will have four elements to separate dishes, protect them from dust, and conserve heat and humidity. They are much cheaper than the ones you can find in stores and are just as great.

The best recycling ideas for plastic bottles – Sewing kit

Take a bottle and cut it in half. Make symmetrical holes on both sides to put a straw through. Each straw will hold one spool of thread, so you must make as many pairs of holes as you can, taking into account the size of your spool. Put a spool on each straw, until all holes are filled. Then, close the bottle with the cap. If you make another hole in the center of the bottle, you can get the thread you need out from there. It is one of the most practical ways to reuse plastic bottles.

The best recycling ideas for plastic bottles – Vacuum cleaner

Grab a hair dryer and put a mouth mask on the back. Then, place a 33 or 50 cl bottle cut in half, on the mask, in such a way that the cut body is stuck to the dryer. When you turn on the hair dryer, you will see that it has become a wonderful vacuum cleaner that allows you to access the most remote areas of your home. Unknown to many but one of the best ways to reuse empty bottles there is.

Doubts about waste recycling? Here are the most common questions

Recycling is much more than a social commitment, it is the way in which each one of us can take care of the environment in an active and direct way. But how much do you actually know about recycling? We will give you the answers to the most common questions about recycling.

Where to dispose of contact lenses?

The first thing you have to know is that contact lenses are not biodegradable. This means that they cannot be flushed down the toilet, as you would be contributing to contaminating the water with microplastics.

So do we have to put them in the recycling container? Well neither, since it is doesn’t belong to any type of container. Contact lenses go directly to the residual waste container. The one with mixed waste that cannot be sorted out for recycling.

Where to put the pizza boxes?

The pizza boxes are made of cardboard but can they be thrown away with old newspapers? The answer to this question has caused some controversy.

According to environmental associations such as Greenpeace, Ecologists in Action and Friends of the Earth, no matter how much cardboard it contains, it should not be thrown into the paper container, since a stained cardboard box can no longer be recycled. Therefore it should go to the residual waste container. Importantly though, not the whole box tends to get dirty, so you can remove the clean part and throw it in the paper recycling container.

What belongs with organic waste?

The organic waste container is not yet present in all cities, but it is on its way. In some municipalities there are initiatives to create composting areas by neighborhoods or communities. In others it is decided to include one more container for organic waste.

Be that as it may be, in this container you have to put the remains of food (e.g. egg shells, infusion or tea bags, shellfish remains), used kitchen paper, potting soil or garden remains, authentic cork stoppers, grounds of coffee etc. In short, everything that has an untreated natural origin or is biodegradable.

What cannot be included in this container are pads or diapers. You cannot put droppings of any kind, wipes (even if they say they are biodegradable on the package), remains of the ashtray or coffee capsules, cat litter or textile remains with organic waste.

Where can you throw away used oil?

Used oil should not be thrown down the sink or the toilet, it is essential that you take this into account and act accordingly.

Recycling oil is the simplest thing there is. You can use it to turn it into homemade soap for example. You will be impressed by how easy it is and how few materials or ingredients you need. On the other hand, if you prefer to recycle, you simply have to store it at home in a plastic bottle (you can reuse the water or oil bottles) and fill them up.

All oils can be recycled but you cannot mix food oils with motor or industrial oils.

Where to throw away coffee capsules?

Many misunderstandings circulate on the internet regarding the recycling of these coffee capsules. The first thing you have to know is that these should not be put in the recycling container, regardless whether they are aluminium or plastic.

In some areas, there are collection points with a section for coffee capsules. Another option is to check with the brand of coffee capsules as they usually have collection areas themselves.

How to throw away tetra bricks?

It’s understandable that there is confusion among many people about tetra bricks, whether they are for milk, juice or any other product. In its composition, it has a high cardboard content, which is why the controversy arises. Does it belong with paper recycling?

Certainly not! Tetra bricks also contain plastic and aluminum, two compounds that make them suitable for recycling with other packaging materials.

Is it true that plastic waste is not being recycled?

And there we are, trusting that all our effort in separating waste and going out two, three or four times to distribute garbage in each container will pay off. And now they tell you that that the garbage that is sorted out for recycling is not being recycled? Is this really true? Are our efforts really in vain? Is it true that all that glitters in terms of recycling is not really gold? Well, there are many aspects that have to be taken into account and that we are going to discover below.

True or false? Everything is being recycled

They insist on the need to recycle but, when it comes to doing so, it is not an easy process. You have to know, before starting, that barely half of the waste generated is recyclable. Of course, it is not a bad figure and that doing this would already be an achievement for the planet. But if you were a person obsessed with recycling, you will probably feel disappointed. However, more and more work is being done so that the chances of recycling are increasing.

Is plastic recycled yes or no?

One of our greatest desires, having become aware of the value of the environment, is to recycle plastic. Yes, it can be recycled, but beware, not everything! In fact, hardly a fraction of all the plastics we throw away can be recovered. The problem is that plastic is usually mixed with other materials, that is, contaminated or accompanied by food and various elements. Thus, the plastic suffers and ends up in landfills.

For plastic to be one hundred percent recyclable, we would have to eliminate other non-plastic materials that accompany it, as well as food remains, among others. That is, plastic is usually contaminated. To recycle it, it has to be clean of non-reusable waste.

For example, a plastic bottle has to be stripped of its label and of the liquid it contains, be it water or soda, milk or alcoholic beverages. Only then can it be deposited in the container for plastics and be suitable to go to the plastic container to continue the recycling chain.

Recycling plastic would be a help to the environment. Because plastic does not disappear, but lasts over time, causing the accumulation of garbage that does not degrade. In addition, the accumulation of plastics causes damage to health and the ecosystem.

Do you want to recycle responsibly? The next time you have plastic on your hands, clean it well before throwing it away. And take them to a recycling container for the material in question. Because plastics can have a second life!

Plastic Recycling Machines: Recycling Lines

HARD PLASTIC RECYCLING

Hard plastic objects can appear in many shapes and types. Each object can have specific requirements to the recycling process. We have a standard solution available for general hard plastic waste, which are suitable for most common plastics. For specific requirements, optional machines can be added to the line. The final product can be plastic flakes or virgin pellets. Suitable plastic types are amongst others PP, PE, PS, PET, PVC, ABS, BOPP etc.

PLASTIC FILM RECYCLING

Plastic bags and foil generally have specific needs to the recycling equipment that are different from hard plastic. To meet these requirements, we have developed standard solutions for the recycling of plastic bags and foil of most common plastic materials. These lines are mainly suitable for PE and PP but can also be used for PET, PS, ABS etc. Main part of the line is crushing and washing equipment. For specific requirements, options are available for sorting and regaining hard plastic particles or virgin pellets.

PET BOTTLE RECYCLING

Recycling of PET bottles is a product specific task for which we have three standardized solutions with many options. The basic part of the line consists of simple crushing and washing equipment. For higher demands to the quality of the recycled material we have a medium and high-end solution with extra washing equipment. There are plenty of options available for sorting out foreign materials. A granulation line can be added at the end to produce high-quality virgin pellets.

ELECTRIC CABLE RECYCLING

Electric cables generally consist of an evenly divided plastic and metal part. The main task in recycling them is to sort out the valuable metal. We have line solutions available that start with crumbling the cables into small particles of a few millimeters. There are three solutions available with different cutting power for different diameters. After crumbling the cables, a metal-plastic separator separates the metal from the rest. Our lines are suitable for both aluminum and copper cables.

TIRE RECYCLING

Car and truck tires are mainly made out of rubber. To regain the rubber for new purposes the tires have to be destroyed and the metal wires and fibers have to be removed. Since machines for destroying complete tires at once need a lot of force we have next to two automatic solutions a more economical semi-automatic solution as well for lower capacities. The semi-automatic solution needs more human workforce. After a repeating process of crushing and removal of metals and fibers, the recycled rubber will be available in particles of a few millimeters.

Plastic Recycling Machines: Regeneration

Washing and crushing of plastic objects is the main part of creating recycled plastic that is suitable for further use. Still, it is not the end. Many production processes have higher requirements to the recycled plastic. To create again the original virgin plastic material further processing is necessary for which we have a few solutions available.

Agglomerator

This machine can be an economical solution for creating hard plastic raw material out of plastic foil and film. The rotating blades of the agglomerator squeeze the film scraps together. During this process, heat is created and the thin film melts together to small chunks that are better suitable to use in further production processes than the light and fugitive film scraps.

Packing Silo

After all processes are finished and the desired final recycled product is produced, the product has to be packed. Mostly this is done in big-bags. With the packing silo this packing process is convenient and when the bag is full, the bag can be changed by closing the silo for a while and changing the bag. Like this the recycling process doesn’t have to be interrupted while changing the bag.

Granulation Extruder

The most professional way of regenerating virgin material is a granulation extruder. The extruder melts the plastic completely and squeezes it through a mold with defined holes. After cooling down the plastic strings can be cut into pellets with defined dimensions looking the same as the original virgin pellets. Granulation extruders are available with water and air cutters.

Plastic Recycling Machines: Drying

Using wet plastic flakes for further processing can cause many troubles. In most processes, the water content should be very low in order to be able to do anything at all with the plastic. Furthermore, the water content causes the plastic to be heavier and can increase transport costs. For this problem, we have different solutions available to dry the wet plastic effectively.

Vertical Centrifuge

Based on the high-speed rotating principle, the vertical centrifuge works in a similar way as the horizontal centrifuge. Except the different position of the drum as the name already reveals, the vertical centrifuge works with higher speeds and a drum that is narrower. At the end, the result is dryer than with the horizontal centrifuge but disadvantage is that the vertical centrifuge is only suitable for hard plastics.

Pipeline Dryer

When the material is already relatively dry, for example after it went through a centrifuge, the last part of the water can be removed with a pipeline dryer. A hot airflow blows the plastic flakes and scraps round and round through a pipeline while absorbing the water. This simple method is very effective and increases the quality of the recycled plastic eminently.

Horizontal Centrifuge

The horizontal centrifuge is a basic solution to dry any recycled plastic flakes. With its big drum, it is suitable for hard and soft plastics and for plastic film material. In a similar way as a washing machine, the perforated drum rotates with high speed and spins out the water while the flakes that are bigger than the holes in the wall of the drum remain inside the drum and come out much dryer.

Plastic Recycling Machines: Washing

When thinking about waste most people will think about the dirty content of their waste bin at home or of the big waste dump areas and their unendurable smell. Indeed, no matter where the waste is coming from, in most cases it is dirty and has to be cleaned before it can be reused in any way. We have different machines available for different purposes to wash the waste effectively and efficiently.

Label Remover

It can be a hard job to remove all labels from plastic bottles and containers. At the same time these labels are the number one contaminant in the recycled material and can impair the quality significantly. The label remover is able to remove most of the labels already before cutting the bottles or containers into small pieces. The rotating drum of the label remover causes friction that rips off the labels from the materials.

Pre-Washing Drum

Waste can be very dirty. Often it is so dirty that dust and dirt make even appropriate sorting impossible. The Pre-washing drum washes off dirt, dust and mud before any other process. In a perforated drum, the waste is rolled over while cleaned by water. The dirt and dust can leave the drum through the holes in the drum wall while the waste gets out at the much cleaner.

Sink-Float Tank

With not only a wash function but also a sorting function, the sink-float tank is indispensable in the recycling of plastic waste. The flakes are paddling in the tank slowly pushed forward by the paddle shafts. While swimming in the water the flakes are cleaned and at the same time, lighter plastics that float on the surface are separated from the heavier plastics that sink to the bottom.

Friction Washer

In a similar way as the label remover, the friction washer works with a friction drum as well. Just in case of the friction washer the rotation speed is much higher and it is suitable only for plastic that is already cut into small plastic flakes. Besides labels, remaining dirt is rubbed away from the recycled plastic flakes as well. Depending on the purpose rotation speed, length and inclination angle of the friction washer can vary.

Hot Washer

When talking about household waste like PET bottles, the amount of dirt can be high. To remove effectively all dirt from the plastic flakes, it is essential to not only wash them in cold water but also wash them with hot water and preferably with some cleaning additives added to the water. Similar like a dishwasher, the hot washer has rotating paddles that create a whirlpool and effectively washes off the dirt from the PET flakes.

Plastic Recycling Machines: Cutting

Generally, old plastic or rubber objects have to be destroyed and cut into small particles to be able to reuse them and to create new products. There are different cutting systems available with different applications. Main criteria for the selection of the right method is the required input and output size of the material

Granulator

A granulator or crusher is maybe the easiest way to crumble plastic objects. It is especially suitable for smaller bulk objects like plastic bottles or small containers or cups. Also for long objects like pipes and hoses, a crusher can be the ideal solution. The big advantage of a crusher is the relative continuous material flow and the defined output size. Thanks to the perforation screen, the output particles are of relative similar dimensions.

Single-Shaft Shredder

For more massive bulk objects, a single-shaft shredder could be more suitable than a crusher. In comparison to a crusher a single-shaft shredder is stronger and less likely to block when cutting heavy objects. The single-shaft shredder works just like a crusher with a perforation screen and defined output size. A hydraulic push block takes care that especially bigger and massive objects are pushed towards the cutting shaft and are cut layer after layer.

Double-Shaft Shredder

When you are dealing with big and thin-walled objects like car tires or voluminous containers, a double-shaft shredder is the right way to go. With two shafts gearing into each other, the double-shaft shredder can easily compress and tear apart thin-walled vessels and tires. It can also be a good solution for long entangled bulks of electric cables and wires, which are too heavy for a single-shaft shredder to take at once. The output size of the double-shaft shredder is undefined and can vary heavily.

Tire Strip Cutter

As a special solution for cutting car tires, the tire strip cutter cuts a car tire into a long strip of rubber. This long strip of rubber is easier to process for further cutting machines. By taking advantage of a tire strip cutter high investment costs for heavy machines that are able to crumble a complete car tire at once can be avoided. This machine especially suitable for economic tire recycling lines with lower capacities.

Tire Block Cutter

The tire block cutter is made in particular to follow the tire strip cutter in the recycling process. The rubber strips that are produced by the tire strip cutter can be cut into small pieces by the tire block cutter. A medium range crusher can afterwards easily crumble these blocks to particle sizes of a few millimeters. In this way, high costs for purchasing and running heavy shredders are rendered unnecessary.

Plastic Recycling Machines: Sorting (Part 2)

In our previous article about plastic recycling machines we already explained several machines for sorting and separating different plastics and waste materials. We talked about the tire debeader, bale breaker, label separator, sorting table and color sorting machine. Today we continue with some more separation and sorting machines.

Magnetic Separator

Often plastic and rubber waste can contain steel parts that were integrated in the original product or that were mixed during the waste collection process. The steel parts can not only degrade the quality of the recycled product but also damage machines that were not intended to process steel parts. A magnetic belt running above a conveyor belt can pick out all these steel parts and collect them in a container for disposal.

Metal Detector

Despite many efforts to clear the plastic waste from metal contaminants by means of automatic or manual sorting, there still can end up some metal parts in the material flow at the entrance of the recycling line. To ensure high quality recycled plastic and protect the machines from damages, a metal detector can be installed at the beginning to stop the input flow when a metal part is detected so it can be removed before any damage or quality issue occurs.

Non-Ferrous Metal Separator

Plastic products can often contain metal parts like aluminum, messing or copper locks or joints. In addition, could aluminum cans have found their way in between plastic bottles waste. These metal contaminants can have bad influence on the quality of recycled plastic or rubber. To remove these metal parts from the plastic or rubber waste, a special technique is used that creates an electro-magnetic field that expulses conductive objects and collects them in a separate container.

Vibrating Sieve

A vibrating sieve separates particles based on their size. This can be particles of the same material to ensure a certain particle size or it can be to separate dust and fibers from the actual product. The perforation of the sieve decides the size of the particles that can pass though. The vibration of the screen takes care of a smooth flow of material and a qualitative separation of the smaller particles.

Metal-Plastic Separator

Certain products contain equal amounts of metals and plastic. This is the case with electric cables for example where the aluminum or copper core is completely covered in rubber and plastic. These plastic and metal fractions are bound so closely together that the only way to separate them is to cut the product into tiny particles. After cutting the particles can be separated based on their different mechanical characteristics. This separation is realized with an inclined vibrating screen that uses the natural frequency to guide the metal and plastic parts into different directions.

Plastic Recycling Machines: Sorting (Part 1)

One of the main tasks in recycling waste material is to separate the different fractions or remove contaminating materials from the valuable main part. We have several solutions available to separate different plastics or metals from plastic and rubber.

Tire Debeader

Especially useful for a semi-automatic tire recycling line is the tire debeader. There are different techniques available to remove the steel bead from the tire before starting the actual recycling process. By removing the bead on forehand, investment money can be saved for more expensive machines to crumble and separate the steel from the rubber. This method is especially economical for lower capacities.

Bale Breaker

In many cases, waste material is pre-sorted and tied up in bales. To start recycling the material these bales have to be opened so the material can be treated separately. The bale breaker breaks the straps around the bales and loosens the objects contained in the bales. This makes it possible to wash off dust effectively and sort out contaminating materials such as metals before starting the actual recycling process.

Label Separator

When dealing with hard plastic objects like bottles or containers that contain labels, there can always be some label material left even after intensive washing and sorting. The label separator working with air is an efficient way to remove the remaining labels from the recycled material and to improve the purity of the recycled material.

Sorting Table

At the sorting table, the waste material passes by on a belt conveyor while workers on fixed positions analyze the waste and pick out foreign materials. Collection bins or discharge holes are fixed on each position to easily remove the sorted out contaminants from the sorting platform.

Color Sorting

For high-end customers with strict requirements to the quality of the recycled material our color-sorting machine is indispensable. The color sorting machine works with optical color recognition and sorts out the particles with a different color. It can be used to separate differently colored materials or to sort out remaining contaminants to increase the purity level of the recycled material.