Page 48 - Plastics News February 2025
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TECHNOLOGY NEWS
structions less dependent on the more ruthless Challenges and the Future of Plastic Upcycling
conventional building materials such as cement
and steel. Although, the idea to turn plastics into some-
thing more useful can be seen as a viable solu-
Furniture and Household Products: Recycled tion for the problem, there are several obstacles
plastic is also impressive while going into the here. Some of these include:
fabrication of furniture, kitchen utensils, and oth-
er household items. Companies are turning the Scalability: At the same time, the majority of up-
waste plastics into fashionable and useful prod- cycling technologies are still in the experimen-
ucts; thus helping to fight the problem of plastic tal or at the beginning of the commercial stage.
waste. Sustaining all these processes to accommodate
the heaps of plastic waste produced, globally,
Automobile Parts: PVC waste is becoming pop- would call for a lot of investment in research, in-
ular within the automotive industry. Automobile frastructure enhancement as well as technology.
makers are also benefitting from the recycling of
plastics by using the reusable plastics to create Economic Viability: Sometimes upcycling ap-
auto components including dashboards, bump- proaches may be costly than plastic production
ers and interior trims. or conventional plastic recycling strategies. As a
way to take upcycling to the commercial level, it
In the accruing list of examples of upcycled plas- will be crucial to find cheaper ways of upcycling
tic, it is evident that the material can indeed take as well as create the reason to use upcycled ma-
over several other materials in almost every sec- terial.
tor.
Consumer Awareness: Currently, few people
4. 3D Printing with Recycled Plastics know about plastic upcycling and its positive im-
pact.
3D printing technology has seen immense use
in recent past, and now it going even further to Through consumer awareness and sensitization
recycle plastics. By employing the use of post- and highlighting the need to embrace upcycled
consumer recycled plastic as the input for 3D products and alerting industries and consumers
printers, firms or individuals can design unique to embrace upcycled products, more people will
products, models or novelties, as well as sub- embrace upcycling.
stitutes. It helps decrease the amount of plastic
used, and, at the same time, offers fresh oppor- Nevertheless, the future of this type of recycling
tunities to embrace the concept of on-demand is rather bright. These factors give insight that,
economy. with improved technology and scale economies
the upcycling process will be cheaper and hence
New products can be made by turning used plas- widely accepted. Both governments and con-
tics into filaments for 3D printing through melt- sumers, as well as all the businesses and produc-
ing the plastics from discarded bottles, packs, ers in-between, have a part to play in minimizing
and more. It makes it possible to manufacture a the use of plastics and making use of products
very wide range of products from simple home created from upcycled materials instead.
decoration accessories to complex industrial Source – Plastics Technology
components within a competitively low environ-
mental impact.
48 PLASTICS NEWS February 2025
