_edited.png)
problem
Did you know that the plastic bottles you put in the recycling bin may not actually be recycled?
Labels on plastic bottles make recycling difficult. Labels are made of a different material than the plastic bottle and must be removed by the sorter during the recycling process.
Low Global Recycling & Downcycling Rate
In 2013, only 14% of global plastic packaging waste was collected for recycling. Of this, 8% was downcycled and 4% was lost in the process. Notably, only 2% of all plastic packaging waste was effectively recycled, resulting in products of equal or greater value.
According to a recent OECD report, the world is currently producing twice as much plastic waste as it did two decades ago. Of this waste, the majority is either sent to landfill, incinerated, or leaks into the environment. Only 9% of plastic waste is successfully recycled.
So You Need To Remove The Label First. However,
Perhaps you have thrown away plastic bottles with labels attached in Europe. That's because those companies use labels with low specific gravity nationwide. These labels, which are made from low-density polyethylene (LDPE), are said to be environmentally friendly because they can be easily separated in water, making them more convenient for the public.
However, they pose a higher risk of contamination as they rely on technology to clean and sort mixed waste, and they have a lower recycling purity, especially if the labels/glues are incompatible.
Therefore, for the sake of recycling purity, contamination risk and infrastructure costs, source-separated recycling, whereby labels are removed at the source, such as in households or businesses, is better than post-collection separation, whereby materials are sorted at centralized facilities. However, according to multiple surveys and articles, many labels are difficult to remove by hand.
For example, according to a survey by the Korea Consumer Agency in 2021, 70.6% of respondents said that "removing the labels" was the most challenging part of separating and disposing of transparent plastic bottles. They said that the cutting line doesn't separate the labels well, and the labels often stay attached to the bottles.
