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zillskillnillfrill t1_jdx94s5 wrote

Aren't they supposed to be separated because of coloured plastics

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Stachemaster86 t1_jdxcce8 wrote

I believe they get chipped up, floated based on density and then likely segregated by color using a air jet conveyor thing. That or they go into darker plastic blends like black which hides all other colors.

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zillskillnillfrill t1_jdxcp7w wrote

Oh, ok. I'm probably still going by the rule that was around in the 80s because I'm old

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LastLapPodcast t1_jdxqpda wrote

They do the same with glass. All our local glass recycling bins that were colour coded for clear, green and brown now just accept assorted glass.

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Viperion_NZ t1_jdym7gn wrote

We still have big ol' steel bins with three holes for clear, brown, and green glass....but there are no dividers in the bins lolol

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nim_opet t1_jdy4mjm wrote

They are no longer HDPE, they are PET like the bottle!

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Carighan t1_jdzrqt8 wrote

That's a good point, modern plastic caps on non-reusable bottles feel very different than back in the 80s, yeah.

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thejml2000 t1_jdxdy0c wrote

Around here they are. They’re generally different types of plastic.

That said I’m sure pretty much everywhere else has better recycling machin that we do so it’s probably fine in the EU.

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WelshBathBoy t1_jdz8xkr wrote

Of the tether caps I've seen, they are clear plastic like the bottle itself. Coloured plastic caps seem to being phased out too, or at least the plastic is changing to be same as bottle.

I'm not sure related, but at the same time milk lids are changing too https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/why-milk-bottle-tops-white-clear-supermarkets-coloured-caps-recycle-b1051032.html

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memeiel OP t1_jdx9fi1 wrote

I’m not sure but apparently not? They couldn’t be this stupid, could they? Or maybe some new machines make it easy to separate them at the recycling plant if they aren’t burned…

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Viperion_NZ t1_jdxgbpc wrote

Never underestimate the stupidity of bureaucracy... we can recycle plastic bottles but not their lids here (New Zealand.....)

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memeiel OP t1_jdxgtjv wrote

Yeah I definitely have some doubt…you never know

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wedontlikespaces t1_jdzcism wrote

They need to be separated from the plastic that makes up the bottles, but that can be done at the recycling plant. They just don't want to do the extra step. But that's on them.

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