The flowchart shows the process by which plastic bottles are recycled. Overall, the process consists of nine consecutive steps, which can further be divided into three main stages: starting by collecting the discarded plastic bottles, followed by recycling them, and finally producing ready items made of recycled plastic. The process is a relatively simple one and relies on specialized equipment along with some manual labor.
There are several steps involved in the first stage of recycling. The first step is that people dispose of used plastic bottles into designated containers. Subsequently, special garbage trucks collect discarded plastic bottles from those containers, taking them to a recycling center, where the bottles are sorted into recyclable and non-recyclable ones. Following this, good quality bottles are pressed into blocks before the next stage takes place.
Now, the actual process of recycling plastic begins. The compressed blocks of plastic are shredded with the help of a shredder, with small pieces falling into a container filled with water. Once the pieces in water have been washed of any impurities, a special machine turns them into tiny plastic pellets. Those pellets are then exposed to high temperature so that they melt, forming raw plastic. In the final stage, the raw plastic is used to produce various plastic items, such as plastic containers, t-shirts, bags and stationery.