In today's era of increasing environmental awareness, the recycling of plastic bags has become a key issue for sustainable development. Due to its extensive use, plastic packaging bags occupy a large proportion in the total amount of garbage, and it is of great significance to effectively recycle them.

First, the significance of recycling

Resource saving: Plastic bags are mainly made of fossil resources such as oil, and recycling plastic bags can reduce the demand for new raw materials. Through recycling, the originally discarded plastic can be reprocessed into new plastic products, realizing the recycling of resources, reducing the dependence on limited natural resources, and reserving more resource reserves for future development.

Energy savings: Recycling existing plastic bags uses significantly less energy than refining plastic raw materials from crude oil and making new plastic bags. In the recycling process, the energy consumption of plastic cleaning, crushing, reshaping and other links is much lower than the whole process from the production of raw materials, which helps to reduce energy consumption and alleviate energy pressure.

Environmental protection: If a large number of discarded plastic bags are not properly treated, they will enter the soil, water and other environments, causing serious environmental pollution. Through recycling, it can reduce the accumulation of plastic waste in the natural environment, reduce the risk of pollution to soil, water and air, protect the ecological balance and maintain the ecological environment of the earth.

Second, recycling process

Collection: The first step in recycling is to collect plastic bags. Common collection methods include community garbage collection points, special recycling bins set up in supermarkets or shopping malls. Residents and consumers will use the plastic bags to a designated place, by the relevant departments or recycling enterprises for centralized collection.

Classification: The collected plastic bags need to be classified, and the recycling method and value of different materials are different. Generally by manual or mechanical means, according to the types of plastics, such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), etc., are classified for subsequent targeted treatment.

Cleaning and crushing: the sorted plastic packaging bag should be cleaned to remove dirt and impurities on the surface to ensure the purity of recycled plastics. The cleaned plastic bags are broken into small pieces to facilitate subsequent processing.

Regranulation and processing: after the broken plastic fragments are heated and melted into particles, these recycled plastic particles can be used as raw materials for the production of plastic bags or other plastic products, to achieve plastic recycling.

Third, challenges we face

Mixed materials: Plastic packaging bags on the market have a variety of materials, and some also use multi-layer composite structure, which increases the difficulty of classification and recycling. Plastics of different materials require different processes in the recycling process, and the mixture of materials makes it difficult to recycle efficiently.

Pollution problem: Many plastic bags are polluted by food residue and oil in the process of use, and the cleaning cost is high and difficult, and some seriously polluted bags can not even be recycled, reducing the recycling rate.

Incomplete recycling system: Some areas lack a perfect recycling system for plastic bags, and the recycling channel is not smooth, resulting in a large number of recyclable plastic bags failing to enter the recycling process, but being treated as ordinary garbage.

Fourth, coping strategies

Research and development of new materials and technologies: research and development of single-material plastic bags that are easy to recycle, or develop efficient recycling technologies for complex material bags to deal with the problem of mixed materials.

Strengthen publicity and education: improve the public's awareness of the recycling of plastic bags, advocate the correct use and placement of plastic bags, reduce pollution, and encourage consumers to choose recyclable plastic bags.

Improve the recycling system: the government and enterprises should increase investment, improve the recycling network of plastic bags, establish and improve the recycling incentive mechanism, and improve the recycling efficiency and recovery rate.

The recycling of plastic bags is of great significance for resource conservation and environmental protection, despite many challenges, but through the efforts of all parties, improve the recycling system, innovative technology and strengthen education, it is expected to achieve the sustainable development of plastic bags recycling and make positive contributions to the cause of environmental protection.