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Plastic output has increased 20-fold since 1964. Globally, about 311 million tonnes of plastics were produced in 2014, expected to double in about 20 years, and possibly quadruple by 2050. International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook estimated in 2015 that the largest application, plastic packaging, is envisaged to have continuous strong growth, which might double within 15 years, and rise fourfold by 2050, to about 318 million tonnes yearly, which is higher than the whole plastic industry today....

Reprocessing of recovered plastic scraps or wastes into usable products is called plastic recycling. Most plastics are non-biodegradable in nature, hence, the fundamental work is reduction of waste emissions, effective management and recycling of resulting wastes. Recycling of plastics is a major aspect of the worldwide efforts in minimising the yearly 8 million tonnes of plastics in the waste stream entering the Earth's ocean.

There are four main categories of recycling: primary (which involves the mechanical reprocessing of plastics into a new product with equivalent properties), secondary (which involves the mechanical reprocessing of plastics into a product with lower properties), tertiary (which involves the recovery of the chemical constituents of the plastics) and quaternary (which involves energy recovery from the plastics).


From 'Public and Environmental Health Effects of Plastic Wastes Disposal: A Review', ClinMed International Library