Plastic bottles can be recycled in your blue box or at many of the recycling centres around the city.
Plastic bottles are collected more than any other plastic items nationally because 95% are made from Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or High density polyethylene (HDPE).
This makes them easy to sort and manufacture into new products. There is increasing demand from manufacturers for these plastics as they are becoming more commonly used in recycled products.
Other types of plastic
It is clear that many residents want to recycle all plastics, not just plastic bottles; however these services are still in development.
The systems required to separate and process over 50 types of plastic are complicated. Visually it is difficult to tell them apart, so sorting can be very expensive and therefore not worthwhile for a commercial operator.
Technology for automatic sorting is still developing. The cost of processing is increased by 'contamination'. This can be caused by the wrong types of plastic being put in the collection container, or by food residues which require plastic to be cleaned more intensively before recycling.
The cost of processing plastics other than bottles has affected the demand from manufacturers for these recycled plastics. As technology improves it is likely that markets for plastics will expand. We will continue to explore ways to develop the types of plastic collected.
Putting other plastic items in your blue box or the recycling banks means that our collection vehicles fill up more quickly and have to make more trips to empty material. Currently these other plastics are removed during sorting and are not recycled, so please only put plastic bottles in your blue box.
Why we currently do not recycle mixed plastics
Currently only 17% of UK councils collect mixed plastics for recycling. As the UK market for these plastics is not yet well-developed, most have to be sent abroad to be recycled.
Only a few companies are able to recycle plastic types other than PET, HDPE and PVC. This means that facilities for recycling these types of plastic in Cambridgeshire currently do not exist. This situation may change in the future, and we will continue to explore ways to recycle more plastics.
How plastic bottles are recycled
After collection, the bottles are baled and taken to a sorting facility where they are separated into their different types by automated machinery, using techniques such as infra-red imaging.
The plastic is flaked and turned into pellets for sale to manufacturers to make new products including plant pots, compost bins, water butts and fleece jackets.
If you want to know more about plastic recycling, take a look at the Cambridge Matters blog or visit Recoup, who specialise in maximising efficient plastics recycling.