The process of recycling plastic bottles is detailed in the diagram shown. Overall, there are 9 steps to this cycle. Among them are using, collecting, transporting, sorting, compressing, crushing, producing, and reusing.
The first 3 stages focus on accumulating recyclables. It starts with people disposing of their plastic bottles into recycling bins, which then will be transported to a recycling plant by garbage trucks. Once there, a worker will sort them by hand between the recyclables and non recyclables.
After the recyclable bottles are collected, they will be processed into raw material to be repurposed. First, they are compressed into blocks and put through a round spiky grinder to be crushed into tiny pieces. Second, they will be gathered into tanks to be thoroughly cleaned before they go through a specialized machine that will turn them into plastic pellets. Third, the pellets are then heated to form raw material that is suitable for producing goods. The products that can be made, among others, are pens, shirts, and lunch boxes. These will then be used until worn out and can be collected in the recycling bin to go through the recycling process again.