The diagram illustrates the process of recycling plastic bottles.
Overall, the recycling process consists of nine main stages, starting with collecting used plastic bottles and ending with the production of new products. It is a circular process because the finished items can be recycled again.
At the first stage, people put used plastic bottles into recycling bins. After that, the bottles are collected by trucks and transported to a recycling centre. In this facility, the bottles are sorted manually to separate recyclable materials from unsuitable ones. The selected bottles are then compressed into large blocks to make them easier to process.
In the next steps, these blocks are crushed into small pieces by a machine. The plastic pieces are then washed in a container to remove dirt and other unwanted materials. After being cleaned, they are processed into plastic pellets. Subsequently, the pellets are heated and melted to create raw plastic material.
Finally, this raw material is used to manufacture a variety of end products, such as new bottles, clothes, bags and other plastic items. These products can later be placed into recycling bins, allowing the cycle to continue.