A difficult part of exporting plastic scrap to China is figuring out exactly what you can and cannot import. For most plastic brokers and dealers, it takes years of experience and trial and error before getting a clear answer. While I cannot cover this topic in a short article, a thing to be careful about is reflective (metallic) pieces or parts inside your plastic scrap loads. Continue reading »
Most Chinese businesses want to jump on the US bandwagon to search for plastic scrap they can trade or make money from. The magic formula seems to be to buy plastic scrap in the United States at low prices, export it to China, and make money. While many see the United States as an opportunity with open doors, I personally think that this window is becoming more narrow.
I say this because the United States is rapidly developing its own plastic scrap marketplace. Instead of shipping all plastic scrap into China for processing, most high quality, clean scrap is now being traded and sold locally at premium prices (at prices much higher than China). What gets exported is usually low in quality and or difficult and time consuming to separate and process. Continue reading »
It has not been long since the launch of Recycled Plastic dot Com and already I’m getting emails on a daily basis with questions about plastic, plastic recycling, and recycled plastics (which is great!). I’m having a blast answering your emails and meeting new people along the way. Several days ago, I received an email from Robbie asking how he can find plastic scrap suppliers in Europe. It seems I’ve been writing so much on selling that I’m neglecting the buying side of things. In response, I’m going to write an entire series on “finding plastic scrap suppliers” worldwide.
I’m going to start by saying that I do NOT recommend testing and identifying plastic types this way. The burn test involves burning a piece of plastic with a heat source such as a lighter and carefully inspecting the way it burns, the color of flame, the smell, and other characteristics. The issue with conducting the burn test is it releases chemicals in the air that is possibly carcinogenic. Since on-site plastic identification is sometimes required for plastic scrap trading, it sometimes gets overlooked as being hazardous to your health.
An essential aspect of trading plastic scrap determining prices. There is no set value to plastic scrap. There is no blue book value as in selling used vehicles. Plastic scrap prices move up and down like stocks. To be a successful plastic trader, you need to buy low and sell high. To be a successful recycler, you need to sell at the highest possible price. The key to being successful in this industry (probably true for all businesses) is finding the most suitable buyer for your type and quality of recycled plastic.
What does PC stand for?
PC is an acronym for PolyCarbonates, a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups (carbon that is bonded to three oxygen groups).
What is PC’s plastic identification number?
PC does not have its own plastic number. Instead, PC is identified by number 7, which is “other†plastic types. Continue reading »
What does ABS stand for?
ABS is an acronym for Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, a copolymer thermoplastic manufactured from the polymerization of Styrene and Acrylonitrile in the presence of Polybutadiene.
What is ABS’s plastic number?
ABS does not have its own plastic number. Products made with ABS use recycling number 7, which represent “other†plastic types.
You may find ABS products marked with a recycling symbol and “ABS†written inside or beneath it.
What is Extrusion Molding?
Extrusion molding is a manufacturing process transforming thermoplastics into products like plastic sheets, pipes, tubes, drinking straws, optical fibers, curtain rails, etc. Extruded products are usually long with consistent cross section.
What is the extrusion molding process?
If you can imagine how spaghetti is made, molten plastic is squeezed through a shaped orifice, typically a custom made and designed steel die in the shape of the cross section of the intended final product. The extrusion process produces a continuous work piece; refer to the diagram below.
What is the stretch blow molding process?
Stretch blow molding is a two stage process similar to injection blow molding. First, a test tube like preform parison (pictured above) is injection molded in-house, or the preform parison can be purchased from an outside vendor. The neck of the preforms is fully finished (with threads) but the diameter and length of the body are much smaller than the final product. The thermoplastic preform then undergoes a reheat process (usually via infrared heaters) and is stretched and blown against the mold. This process is sometimes referred to as “reheat and blow molding†process, RHB for short. Below is a step by step diagram of the stretch blow molding process:
What is the injection blow molding process?
Thermoplastic is heated to a molten state.
The molten thermoplastic is injection molded into a cavity that encircles the core pin (or blow stem). The resulting injected plastic is called a preform parison and resembles a test tube with a threaded neck.
What is the extrusion blow molding process?
Thermoplastic is heated to a molten state.
The molten thermoplastic is extruded vertically downwards through a die head to form a hollow tube. This hollow, molten plastic tube is called a parison.
Since the start of the plastic scrap industry, PET has been a hot selling commodity. This is because the common plastic soda/water bottle (made with PET pla...
What is the difference between thermoplastic and thermosetting plastics? Plastics are divided into two groups depending on how it reacts to heat. Thermoplast...
These red, fashionable, sporty-looking, recycled plastic bag shoes (pictured above) are designed by Israeli designer Galit Begas and brings awareness about ...
What does PC stand for? PC is an acronym for PolyCarbonates, a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups (carbon that is bonded to three ...
Polymer is a word derived from Greek meaning many parts or segments; “poly†means many and “meros†means parts or segments. Polymer...
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