CHEMICAL RECYCLING COULD TRANSFORM PLASTIC RECYCLING BY RETURNING WASTE TO ITS 'VIRGIN' STATE

Scientists have come up with a new way of recycling plastic, returning the material to its "virgin" state.
The U.S. recycles hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic each year, which is still just a tiny fraction of the sum chucked into the landfill, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. One of the problems with traditional methods of recycling is that it lowers the quality of the substance, so that the recycled plastic is of a lower grade than that of the original. In practical terms, this means a plastic water bottle cannot be recycled and turned into another plastic water bottle over and over again. Rather, the recycled plastic can be used for products like piping and traffic cones that can be made from a lesser quality material.