Conscious Effort

“While PP is easily among the most popular plastic packaging materials in the world, only around 1% is recycled, which means most PP is headed for the landfill.”1

Because of its melting point and strength, polypropylene (PP) is the most widely used plastic packaging material in the United States, with approximately five billion pounds manufactured per year (2010). However, according to American Chemistry Council data on PP processing and recycling, PP is one of the least recycled post-consumer plastics, with a post-consumer recovery rate of less than 1%.

Collection, sorting, washing, reprocessing by melting, and making new items from recycled PP are the five stages in the recycling process. In the reprocessing method, collected PP products are fed into an extruder and melted at 4,640 degrees Fahrenheit (2,400 degrees Celsius) before being cut into granules. After that, the pellets are able to be used in the development of new goods.2

A clip from our prototyping sessions at the DoSeum in San Antonio.
  1. 2012, G.P. ThomasJun 25. “Recycling of Polypropylene (PP).” AZoCleantech.com, 6 Oct. 2020, http://www.azocleantech.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=240.
  2. LeBlanc, Rick. “Polypropylene Recycling – An Introduction.” The Balance Small Business, http://www.thebalancesmb.com/an-overview-of-polypropylene-recycling-2877863.
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