How Plastic Recycling Actually Works

Check out REInventors here!:
http://youtube.com/pbsreinventors

What happens to plastic bottles when you recycle them? Do they get made into fresh bottles, or do they become something else? This week on Reactions, learn why it's easier to turn bottles into workout shirts than it is to fully recycle the plastic.

Subscribe! http://bit.ly/ACSReactions
Facebook! http://facebook.com/ACSReactions
Twitter! http://twitter.com/ACSReactions
Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/acsreactions/
Tumblr! http://acsreactions.tumblr.com/


You might also like:

What Do Electrolytes Actually Do?
https://youtu.be/xhLHtuZ3VOI

Will This Pop a Balloon?
https://youtu.be/qnAhsioaHug

How Does Glassblowing Work?
https://youtu.be/HkLpAw9u-UU

Yellowstone Steaming Acid Pools of Death
https://youtu.be/OqP50563IDM

Credits:
Producer: Sean Parsons
Writer: George Zaidan
Scientific Consultants: Wim Thielemans, PhD;Michelle Boucher, PhD
Executive Producer: George Zaidan
Fact Checker: Alison Le


Music:
"Apero Hour," by Kevin MacLeod


Sources:
https://www.thoughtco.com/recycling-plastics-820356
https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/plastics-rubber/plastic-recycling-equipment
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/12/what-actually-happens-to-a-recycled-plastic-bottle/418326/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2873020/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24811748
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyF9MxlcItw
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ie960563c
https://www.britannica.com/science/polyethylene-terephthalate
http://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/polymers/polyesters.html

Ever wonder why dogs sniff each others' butts? Or how Adderall works? Or whether it's OK to pee in the pool? We've got you covered: Reactions a web series about the chemistry that surrounds you every day.

Produced by the American Chemical Society.

Nächste Episode

S05E34 - How Does Double Acting Baking Powder... Doubly Act?