Recycling of multi-layer plastic

Hi,

I was wondering what kind of small-scale technology exists for recycling multi-layer plastic packaging often used in food.

Regards,
Ashish

Are you talking about the thin film plastics? If so, it doesn't really exist.

The word recycling suggests that the plastic would be returned to the raw material and then be used to make products as good as the original. In practice most plastics - but especially the thin film ones - are chemically altered in any recycling process so cannot be used indefinitely. They get down-cycled to other products which typically can't be recycled afterwards.

Interestingly, the thin film plastics - if put into recycling waste bins - actually mess up the equipment used in recycling, and make it more expensive for the recycling plants to do what they need to do. And then because they can't recycle it they have to pay to have that waste landfilled, or burned. I have known people in my own family who compulsively shove every scrap of thin film plastics into other containers, so that they can then put them in the recycling bin, under the mistaken belief that it means those plastics will be recycled. I know enough now to explain why they shouldn't do that!

Bottom line - reducing dependence on those plastics is more important than attempting to recycle them, because the recycling process cannot reclaim the raw materials properly.

I never hear of multi-layer plastic so I ask google.

According to Wikipedia, this technology was first used in the 1950s to make toothpaste tubes.

Basf company and Uflex recently developed multilayered food packaging from 100% recyclable materials.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilayered_packaging

The article does not say how to recycle. So how would one recycle these?  

Ashish, by any chance can you post a picture of what it is you are talking about?

Thanks for the replies.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F5.imimg.com%2Fdata5%2FAN%2FXX%2FQD%2FSELLER-77460638%2Flays-500x500.jpg&f=1&nofb=1 is the one

What you folks say about recycling is what I know too. I thought maybe, you all know something which I  was missing.

I reuse things like the mylar chip bags. A heat bag sealer will re-close them, I store dehydrated foods and grains in them.