• Plastics are collected and sorted into different types of plastics.
• The plastic articles are reduced in size i.e. cut up into smaller pieces with a granulator or shredder.
• The granulated flakes are put through a wash plant to remove labels, residual contents, and soil.
• After drying the granules are fed into an extruder.  They are melted and the met is extruded through a multi-hole die in the form of continuous strings.
• The strings are water cooled and chopped into pellets by a revolving cutter.
• The pellets are bagged and ready to be sold to a converter who uses the recyclate or recycled materials to produce new plastics products.

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Interesting products made from recycled plastic:
Garbage bags, dustbins, irrigation pipes, picture frames, garden furniture, buckets, fence poles, roof tiles, fibre, flower pots, automotive parts, shoe soles, door and car mats, hoses, coat hangers, stationery, garden tools, refuse bags, sawdust bags, roof insulation, building film, carpets, strapping tape, crates, stadium seats, pallets, paint trays, seedling trays, curtain tie-backs, cornices, skirtings, plastic timber, ride-on toys, wheelbarrows, pick handles, carrier bags, park benches.

Content and graphics courtesy of Plastics SA