Plastic is “very little recycled“, indicates journalist Simon Ricottier on the set of 20 Heures. For transparent water bottles, it recycles quite well: it is melted down to make new bottles.”But if the plastic is colored, it is much more complicated because of the additives. We will therefore transform it into textile fibers, to make, for example, fleeces.“, explains the journalist.
But unlike glass, plastic degrades with each recycling: from four plastic bottles, only three are made. Fleece cannot be recycled. Shampoo or milk cans are transformed.in watering cans, in trash cans or on public benches. “But once we have passed this stage, it’s over, we can no longer recycle them“, explains Simon Ricottier.
As for tires, medical gloves or swimsuits, “the process is too expensive“. The plastic from ski boots and toys is too hard to be recycled. Finally, that of potato chip bags is intertwined with aluminum and cannot be separated. Another problem: the French sort poorly and only 25% of plastic packaging is recycled.
Watch the entire column in the video above.
Non-exhaustive list
