The diagram illustrates the life cycle of glass and plastic products, with two cycles – one for glass and one for plastic items.
Overall, it is a seven-stage cyclic process for both glass and plastic products, starting with the collection of used products and ending with the production of new products, involving physical and heat treatments. Initially, the glass and plastic products are collected after 3 to 8 weeks of use. Five to ten days after the collection, these products are transported to the recycling centre. At the recycling centre, the plastic and glass items are segregated and processed separately.
At first, the glass items are categorized based on their colour. Second, the batches undergo crushing to break them into tiny pieces. Next, the pieces are washed to remove any dirt. The washed pieces are then melted. In another machine, the molten glass is reshaped into new products.
On the other hand, the plastic is sorted based on its thickness and quality. First, it undergoes bundling, where the graded plastics are crushed into blocks to remove all empty space. These blocks are shredded into small fragments. The pieces are then rinsed. Unlike the glass, the cleaned plastic is melted and reshaped by the same machine into new products.