What products are made from LDPE?
LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (LDPE) What is LDPE Plastic? What does LDPE stand for? LDPE is an acronym for Low Density PolyEthylene and is a thermoplastic derived from petroleum used mainly in the plastic bag and film industry. What is LDPE’s plastic number? LDPE is recycling number 4. What are LDPE’s properties? LDPE is flexible, tough, […]
What is HDPE primarily used for?
HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (HDPE) What is HDPE PlasticWhat does HDPE stand for? HDPE is an acronym for High Density PolyEthylene and is a thermoplastic prepared from ethylene by a catalytic process. The global market for HDPE in 2007 is around 30 million tons. What is HDPE’s plastic number? The recycling number for HDPE is #2. […]
Ocean plastic is particularly hard to recycle
Ocean plastic is particularly hard to recycle because it is so contaminated. It can only be recycled if contains a maximum of 5% of impurities, which is difficult to achieve with plastic collected from massive saltwater bodies. Downstream recycling works, right? Ocean plastic unfortunately photo-degenerates when it’s been under the sun for too long. It […]
ocean plastic is difficult to collect
Only approximately 3% of plastic on our oceans are thought to float on or near the surface. The majority breaks down into particles that are a few millimetres long, fragmenting under waves or the sun. Plastic can also attach to other debris and sink, or even be consumed by marine animals. The Ocean Cleanup, the […]
Problems with ocean plastic
Ocean bound plastic refers to plastic that is bound for (or heading to) the ocean. This could literally mean plastic at any stage of its life, but we generally use the term to refer to plastic collected within 50 kilometres from the coast. Most ocean plastic originates within this distance. The bottom line – it […]
recycled ocean plastic doesn’t exist on a large scale
Can plastic from the ocean be recycled? Theoretically, yes. There are a handful of organisations whose mission is to collect plastic from the ocean and convert it into a whole range of so-called ‘ocean plastic products’. Businesses have also jumped on board. What can ocean plastic be recycled into, you may ask? The Ocean Cleanup […]