Plastic containers are brought to the recycling center where they are sorted by type and sometimes color. They are crushed together and formed into a huge cube or bale.
The bales of plastic are shipped to a plastics processing plant.
The plastic is broken apart and shredded into flakes or pellets and then cleaned.
The flakes or pellets are shipped to manufacturers of plastic goods.
The manufacturer melts the plastic flakes or pellets down for molding into new products like:
