{"id":50,"date":"2011-07-07T23:04:36","date_gmt":"2011-07-07T23:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/?p=50"},"modified":"2011-07-13T20:20:51","modified_gmt":"2011-07-13T20:20:51","slug":"is-downcycling-recycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/?p=50","title":{"rendered":"Should Downcycling be considered Recycling?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to <a title=\"ENSO biodegradable plastics\" href=\"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\" target=\"_blank\">biodegradable plastics <\/a>many people have something to say. Opinions range from appreciating the biodegradable technology, wanting all <a title=\"banning plastic\" href=\"http:\/\/ensobottles.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/single-use-plastic-bags-ban-or-become-biodegradable\/\" target=\"_blank\">plastics to be banned<\/a>, pushing for <a title=\"reusable bags arent risk free\" href=\"http:\/\/ensobottles.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/reusable-shopping-bags-are-not-risk-free\/\" target=\"_blank\">re-usable<\/a> alternatives, being all for recycling, or having some other viewpoint. When it comes down to recycling, are plastics products even recycled?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/new.ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/recycling-plastic-processing-300x2251.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-53\" title=\"recycling-plastic-processing-\" src=\"http:\/\/new.ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/recycling-plastic-processing-300x2251.jpg\" alt=\"sorting through plastic at recycling facility\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/recycling-plastic-processing-300x2251.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/recycling-plastic-processing-300x2251-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">One of the first steps at a recycling facility is the sorting of the items. At this point, plastic is sorted by type. (You can learn more about the different recycling numbers <\/span><a title=\"The Recycling numbers\" href=\"http:\/\/ensobottles.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/recycling-logo-does-not-equal-recycling-enso-will-biodegrade-if-not-recycled\/ \" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.)\u00a0Unfortunately, numerous facilities only process some of these types of plastic so the leftovers are either sold to another facility, or sadly thrown into a landfill. <strong>Note :<a title=\"recycling logo does not guarantee recycling\" href=\"http:\/\/ensobottles.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/recycling-logo-does-not-equal-recycling-enso-will-biodegrade-if-not-recycled\/\" target=\"_blank\"> <\/a><\/strong><a title=\"recycling logo does not guarantee recycling\" href=\"http:\/\/ensobottles.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/recycling-logo-does-not-equal-recycling-enso-will-biodegrade-if-not-recycled\/\" target=\"_blank\">Just because you place something in the recycling bin, don\u2019t assume that it is going to be recycled.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The plastics that were kept by the facility will then be ground up into pieces and melted down. Once the plastic is melted, it is formed into pellets. These pellets, also known as\u00a0<a title=\"what is a nurdle\" href=\"http:\/\/weblog.greenpeace.org\/oceandefenders\/archive\/2006\/11\/whats_a_nurdle.html\" target=\"_blank\">nurdles<\/a>, can be made into fibers used for \u00a0all sorts of clothing, wood products, carpeting, toy stuffing, floor mats and tiles and other similar items.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/new.ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/landfill-landscape.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-57 aligncenter\" title=\"landfill-landscape\" src=\"http:\/\/new.ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/landfill-landscape-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"landfill\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/landfill-landscape-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/landfill-landscape-100x75.jpg 100w, https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/landfill-landscape.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">This process is referred to as \u00a0<a title=\"downcycling\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Downcycling\" target=\"_blank\">downcycling<\/a>.  When plastics are downcycled the plastic can only be used as something  it was not originally used for, and once that life is over it typically  ends in incineration or being thrown in a landfill.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/new.ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/incinerator_stoke_420_420x300.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-56 aligncenter\" title=\"incinerator_stoke_420_420x300\" src=\"http:\/\/new.ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/incinerator_stoke_420_420x300-300x214.jpg\" alt=\"recycling incinerator\" width=\"300\" height=\"214\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/incinerator_stoke_420_420x300-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/incinerator_stoke_420_420x300.jpg 420w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for the info<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/www.wisegeek.com\/how-is-plastic-recycled.html<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to biodegradable plastics many people have something to say. Opinions range from appreciating the biodegradable technology, wanting all plastics to be banned, pushing for re-usable alternatives, being all for recycling, or having some other viewpoint. When it comes down to recycling, are plastics products even recycled? One of the first steps at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,130,25,26,27,29,79,12,13,14,33,34,140,136,137,135,139,129,138,142,141,134,133,132,131],"class_list":["post-50","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-banning-plastic","tag-downcycling","tag-earth-friendly-products","tag-eco-friendly-plastic","tag-eco-friendly","tag-enso-biodegradable-bottle","tag-enso-biodegradable-plastics","tag-enso-bottles","tag-enso-plastics","tag-enso-products","tag-environmentally-friendly","tag-farbic-and-paper-bags","tag-incinerating-plastic","tag-is-downcycling-bad","tag-is-downcycling-good","tag-is-recycling-good","tag-melting-plastic","tag-recycling","tag-recycling-facility","tag-reusable-plastic-alternatives","tag-should-i-recycle-plastic","tag-what-happens-to-plastic-when-you-recycle","tag-what-happens-when-you-recycle","tag-what-is-downcycling","tag-what-is-recycling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions\/77"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ensoplastics.com\/theblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}