How to Better Recycle Plastics? Latest International Research Shows Higher Quality Plastics from Pre-sorted Household Waste June 4, 2026 19:12 Source: China News Network
Researchers believe that while unsorted mixed waste may increase overall recycling volume, it comes at the cost of lower quality recycled products. This finding highlights the need to improve recycling collection and sorting systems.
[Image of related illustration from the paper. Provided by Springer Nature]
The paper explains that global plastic production continues to grow, exceeding 413.8 million tons in 2024, but the recycling rate is only 9%. Sorting plastics is crucial for proper recycling, but public cooperation may be a bottleneck, and material recycling facilities have limited capacity to sort different types of plastics.
In this study, to determine whether mixed recycling could improve waste recovery rates without compromising quality, the corresponding author, Steven De Meester of Ghent University in Belgium, along with colleagues and collaborators, evaluated bundles of plastic awaiting recycling at a waste treatment plant in the Netherlands. They compared consumer-separated waste with mixed-recycling waste, both of which undergo material recycling processes at the plant.
The authors analyzed the composition, contaminants, moisture content, odor, and the presence of metals and other unwanted substances in these plastic bundles. While the plastic composition was similar across different bundles, the mixed bundles contained more contaminants, including banned metals such as cadmium and lead, which could pose health risks if not removed before recycling. Mixed recycling also increased moisture and dirt levels, requiring additional cleaning procedures.
The authors then ran a materials flow model to assess how much more recycled material could be generated if recycling facilities in Europe and the United States could sort more mixed waste. While the study showed an increase in recycling volume, there were economic costs—increasing mixed waste recycling volume by 75% would require an investment of approximately €18 billion in Europe and approximately $50 billion in the United States to build post-sorting infrastructure.
The authors concluded that their findings indicate that consumer-level sorting is the best way to ensure the quality of recycled products, but collecting mixed recyclables and sorting them at recycling facilities can serve as a supplementary strategy. Further research is needed to reduce contaminants and improve materials collection methods.
