Plastic Bottle Recycling Process Diagram

The diagram illustrates how plastic bottles are recycled.

Overall, the recycling of plastic bottles is a man-made, cyclical process that consists of use, collection, sorting, crushing, cleaning, pelletizing, making new plastic products, and reuse.

After plastic bottles are used, they are discarded in recycling bins, Suggested change: before being collected and transported by trucksbefore being collected and transported by trucks2waiting for trucks to transport them to a recycling plant. Once there, they are sorted and Suggested change: recyclable itemsrecyclable items3those that can be reused are compressed into blocks. The blocks are then Suggested change: crushedcrushed4broken down by a crushing machine into small pieces, which are subsequently cleaned to remove any residue.

The Suggested change: small, clean piecessmall, clean pieces5small clean pieces produced in the last stage are then poured into a machine where they are turned into pellets. The machine also heats and melts the pellets, which creates plastic raw material. Finally, the raw material is made into different plastic products, including Suggested change: bottles, food containers, clothing, and reusable bagsbottles, food containers, clothing, and reusable bags6pens, bottles, and reusable shopping bags. After these products are used, they go through the recycling process all over again.