How recycling of polythene is done?

Answer 1

POLYTHENE is just a technical term for PLASTIC, 'poly' meaning polymer, and one of the most common types at that. Because all plastics vary so much according to their molecular size and weights this makes it very hard to mix ALL plastics together, this would lead to a "oil in water" effect. A code called the "Resin Identification code" is necessary in the recycling process. This code is recognized as a round triangle with arrows pointing in one direction. Currently, the most common forms of polymers being recycled are PET/ PETE<1>: polyester fibres, used to make soft drink bottles and synthetic fibres. HDPE <2>:a high density polymer like grocery bags which are resistant to water, acids and most solvents (also playground equipments). Last, PVC, or "V" <3> also known as Polyvinyl. While it was found that plastic bottles that have a foggy look like milk jugs were not safe because of the PVC components possibly leaking into food contents, apparently, this has been corrected by some manufacturers but noted on products like toys for instance "with no PVC's or Polyvinyl's." There is still many products that leak by undetected like sport water jugs or cannisters. But to get back to your general question, plastics are recycled by heating them back into liquid form and when sorted correctly, they will dissolve back into one another, sometimes making very different products from which they came from.