For a long time, the MRF in the United States has been able to recycle most pet and HDPE, while the recovery rate of other kinds of plastics is relatively low, including plastic No. 3-7.

 

Recently, a demonstration project organized by the plastics industry association and eight partners found that in addition to MRF recycled plastics, 17000 tons of mixed waste plastics can be recycled annually in the Northwest Pacific Ocean.

 

The project, called the secondary sorting demonstration project, was conducted in Portland, Oregon, from July to August to collect enough low-grade plastics to determine that it is economically feasible to classify them.

 

The project released a report in late November. According to the report, 50000 tons of waste can be recovered annually in Oregon and Washington state through secondary sorting facilities. Among them:

 

Pp10000 tons

 

Pet4800t

 

Pe2000 tons

 

Ps800 tons

 

In the past, these materials would be mixed and packed together for transportation to China, and now China has closed the door to the import of waste plastics. The US has to make a decision on how to recycle and use plastics other than pet and HDPE.

 

At present, many stakeholders in the United States have made commitments and investments to develop plastic recycling infrastructure. The project team pointed out that the research on the secondary sorting project was well adapted to this trend.

 

Before the prohibition of waste plastics in China, the United States was China's big waste plastics exporter. The waste plastics produced by the United States were continuously transported to China and used in China, which made China have made great progress in waste plastics sorting, crushing, reprocessing and other technologies.

 

Now, the United States needs to deal with such a large number of waste plastics by itself. Perhaps it should learn from China's experience in sorting and processing.