RECYCLING plastic at home (mixing HDPE, PETE, PP together in one batch)

I’ve been doing a lot of experiments this year trying to see the capabilities of being able to recycle plastics in different methods. In this experiment we took everything and just mixed it. It’s so much work to separate and clean and remove labels. We found the labels actually added structural integrity to the plastic mix. We actually were not expecting that

[@ziongite]

I think to properly create a sheet of plastic you should not mix together different plastic types, just use one type, let's say for example hdpe, get enough of this and shred it into little pieces like the size of rice maybe. Now sprinkle it into a large baking tray, and allow it to heat up inside the oven and all melt together. You want to heat the plastic to the point that it's melting together, but you don't want to be heating it to ridiculous temperatures that it's turning into vapour, essentially you want melting point, not vapour point. hdpe becomes a liquid at about 130 celcius, so it's easy to do this, just set the oven for that temperature. Softer plastics like hdpe are less likely to crack, since they are more flexible, and especially melting it together just at it's melting point also assures the plastic chemistry won't change much, as compared to boiling the crap out of it which will change it's chemistry and ruin it most likely. I made sheets like this, that I used to make inside walls of a caravan. The sheets came out as a pale off blue colour, this is because I wasn't melting the plastic at a high temperature, so the dyes used in the plastics retained their colour, mostly I was melting clear containers and a few blue lids in with them. However if you melt it at a higher temperature then my guess is that the dyes would burn and degrade into a tar colour. It's invaluable to know how to make plastic sheeting out of your own materials, because buying plastic sheeting at a store is incredibly expensive, especially here in Australia. I can make my own sheet about 4mm thick, and about 50cmX30cm in size, out of just some hdpe I would have thrown in the recycling bin anyway. Yet if I had to buy such a sheet at the local store like bunnings, it would probably cost like 15 dollars or something. The total amount of internal sheets I used for inside lining walls of a caravan would have been at least 30 square metres, if I had purchased these sheets instead from the store it would have set me back at least 3000 dollars. The sheets I made were of great quality as well, I could drill holes, and I then glued them into place as well as using screws with a large head size to distribute the force over the plastic and not dig into it too much. Between the sheets there were gaps of maybe 2-3mm, I didn't use cover strips, I just simply filled these areas in with white silicon and did a neat job. This was an old caravan that had partial wood supports in the roof and leaked, I got it for only 200 dollars, I basically repaired it myself by waterproofing the roof, insulating the walls with foam insulation, creating plastic sheets for the inside walls. And importantly I also replaced the wooden roof support cross beams with aluminium square tubes that I created a slight bow in, so they were like an arch shape. This caravan went originally from a leaking thing, where outside noises were very loud as if there were no walls, and where condensation would form on the roof and drop down when it got warm in the morning after a cold night. To then a caravan that is stable, decent sound deadening, totally waterproof, and no condensation problems. The key to everything is just understanding the basic fundamentals of physics, this caravan serves as an office for myself, when I want to be alone and focus on work. This is why I was bothered to do a decent job with it, because I would personally be using it. One thing I found out over all the time, some materials are great, others are poor. Generally speaking, wood is a poor material, wood may be malleable and easy to work and source, however it has poor qualities in my opinion, it's susceptible to degradation from moisture, it also can change shape if under force, so I generally entirely avoid wood in my build. Aluminium is simply an amazing material, both interior or exterior, no affect at all from moisture, easy to work with, light etc, sun doesn't hurt it, lasts virtually forever. Plastic, plastic obviously isn't good outside where sunlight can strike it, however plastic is a very good material to use inside, it's easy to work with, it has insulative properties, and water also doesn't affect it.

[@aprilerickson5433]

Than you, that was a lot of information that I needed!❤

[@Swahiliangift70x7]

Thanks for showing us what happens when you mix the different types of plastics.😁

[@CharlieMacklin1]

Interesting. I can’t help but be reminded of how sugar behaves; if it gets too hot, it goes from a soft crack-to a hard crack. It seems that by the dark color you are getting you are half way to carbon, it may be getting too hot, hence the brittleness. I’d recommend a thermometer, and only get it hot enough to melt the plastic that has the lowest melt temperature, probably the HDPE. You might be able to use a paper shredder or grinders to pulverize the other types of plastic and then add them to the molten HDPE for some sort of a plastic composition.

[@davidbertrand6884]

When plastic was somewhat soft and a little warm, take it and twist lengthwise thus strengthening various types of plastic compounds. Shred your plastic and mix them together, makes a better mix and maybe not being so brittle. There’s other videos showing the twisting of soft melted plastic. 2-13-2022

[@prettselk]

Please do not mix all kinds of plastic and melt them on a fire. The toxic fumes produced are a serious hazard way beyond your own yard. Even hdpe ldpe and pp, that are ok to work with at home, give off horrible vapours when heated that much. Cheers.

[@tieerchen5155]

karen

[@Spartan1-1]

@@tieerchen5155 he’s not a Karen he’s, right

[@Billong-ytb]

@@Spartan1-1 Him melting a few pounds of plastic won't matter. hell, even if he were to smelt a ton of plastic i don't think it would matter.

[@Spartan1-1]

@@Billong-ytb I’m not saying that there is any problem with melting plastic, I’m just saying that melting it that way and heating it up at such a high temperature can be very dangerous and proper safety precautions must be taken.

[@ab935]

@@tieerchen5155 maybe you should move next door to him.

[@eren8279]

Destroying air for land "A soul for a soul"

[@lElektrongeek]

Hi , would recycled PET will be laser engravable ? Like using a k40 laser ?

[@kibetsebah6267]

Kindly answer me, when using plastic bricks for construction, do we use cement and sand in putting them together or what do you use.

[@mikethk]

You cant mix HDPE and PP. Am i wrong?

[@Freejohnsilkyputty]

What is the point of you melting plastic just to make an ugly useless block that you’ll chuck into a landfill? You could have recycled that material. What your doing is the opposite of recycling.

[@cocofresh6974]

You can use it for roads instead of buying paving blocks that will cost you ALOT OF MONEY

[@shanewhite352]

What was the exact plastic which was a liquid? I wanna know

[@unstoppableExodia]

Haha so many negative comments when really this guy did an experiment that satisfies the curiosity of anyone wondering what happens if you melt a whole bunch of plastics together.

[@siddharthg8801]

Exactly my thoughts. I came on this video after searching " Melting different types of plastics"

[@ab935]

Glad he don't live next to me. Also it may help people to not make the same mistake.

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

Next up, satisfying curiosity by putting hand on hot stove, and giving self paper cuts, and drinking bleach.

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

@@siddharthg8801 Take this as a great example of what not to do.

[@_Wai_Wai_]

Yo, I've always wanted to do this, but I don't have my own yard.

[@msmelpersonality7]

Me too man I rent my place and got rules and shit

[@iwillrateyou9375]

Use someone's else yard

[@OhioFreedomFightersKennFreedom]

Sucks to be you pal

[@joshuamarks6175]

Find a spot

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

Never do this. Melt plastic clean and sorted under controlled temperature. Doing it like in the video is needlessly harmful.

[@BIGGESTYOUTUBER5399]

The contaminants held it together

[@BIGGESTYOUTUBER5399]

Need a way to press it into tiles or something

[@happybaals]

Making concrete molds, what plastic is best?

[@chrisovalantis981]

This plastic look like the elephant's foot of chernobyl

[@zanothandonjoli5859]

Any one please help, what can I add when I melt plastic so that I will be able to do buckets back from p OK plastic?

[@turkceenkolay7714]

It seems you have burned all the plastics. the color should not be black.

[@miguelacherrymelquiades3469]

Could be powdered to be mixed in with cement? Thanks for the vid and God bless

[@mintysurfer14]

Why that sounds terrible

[@noahpeszel168]

Try using a paint drill bit or a strong stick to stir the plastic before pouring it

[@noahsmith2172]

Hows about heat the mix gradually and siphoning off the melted plastics as they reach their melting point. An easy way to seperate plastics

[@user-gf9di2uj9m]

what is that pan made of? teflon?

[@toyhawker]

Soda bottles - hdpe (caps) melt at about 125C or 260F pp (labels) melt at about 165C or 330F pet and pete are the same (bodies) and melt at about 260C or 500F None of these mix well together.

[@MrMuki61]

You've passed the melting point of the plastics which is incredibly dangerous to you and your neighbors. It is evident by the phase change to gaseous form. The "bad odors" are not only "bad", but they are highly cancerogenic VOCs and are released in huge amounts at the temperature you've reached. Melting or heating plastic for remolding purposes needs to be conducted in a controlled environment, at no higher than the melting point of the particular plastic that is being used (and if its not PE or PP then an active carbon filter is mandatory). It should DEFINITLY NOT BE DONE by starting a camp fire in your backyard. I encourage you to practice high safety standards. If you really wish to reuse everyday plastic packaging, you can use the advice given in the Precious Plastic website. Never heat plastics beyond their melting point without proper equipment.

[@Dannafilms96]

I am a biomedical scientist and I completely agree.. This is incredibly dangerous and to anyone watching I would highly advise against this without proper PPE and a way of restricting pollution to near by residents.

[@kuroimami9782]

@@Dannafilms96 i am a sturgeon

[@charlieangkor8649]

It's not "phase change to gaseous form". It's pyrolysis, also known as burning or scorching. Also, it's not gaseous form, that would be invisible. It's a liquid form which condensed from gases, that causes those tiny white droplets in the fumes. Basically he cracks it into crude oil and at the same time boils the crude oil off which makes "steam" like water except it's a nasty, carcinogenic uncontrolled mixture of pyrolysis chemicals.

[@SIGSEGV1337]

yeah, the only reason he needs a respirator here is because he's burning the plastic, at melting temperature it should melt pretty cleanly

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

Agreed. Especially if done repeatedly.

[@bobjoatmon1993]

If you keep the oxygen away from the plastic as it melts you'll get better results. A nitrogen purge, just a trickle of Gas into the top of the melting pot works and you don't get 'slag' which is carbonized hydrocarbon / plastic

[@charlieangkor8649]

Scorched plastic almost into charcoal and then it, surprise surprise, cracks and chips and falls apart because it's so chemical degraded, burnt and pyrolysed it has almost no strength left anymore.

[@devalwalke4521]

Ok so convert land pollution into air pollution great idea 👍👍

[@puffy1333]

The hard black plastic should remelt it and see the effects, cause how hard it is could mold it into a nice knife

[@RealityCheckThat]

You should do much more reading (research) before melting plastic this way. The plastics have different melting points and give off toxins when heated beyond their melting points. Also, it's not necessary to melt the plastics to mold them. Some only need to be softened to the point that they can be molded and this reduces the toxins and preserves the strength of the plastics.

[@dukespike]

Would this work to make fence post?

[@rockspoon6528]

What the f... what about a brittle, toxic pancake said "fence post" to you?

[@OskarNendes]

Interesting. I think if you maintained a 205 degree controlled temperature (smoke-less) the results would me much better. But you are on the way. I've done a similar thing once and the results were similar, a black glass-like material similar to obsidian. :)

[@OttoMinion]

For how long in the oven?

[@OskarNendes]

@@OttoMinion A sandwich toaster

[@OskarNendes]

@@OttoMinion kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZC7hn2tfrOXgtk

[@bradolfpittler2875]

Would it still be this brittle if you added bitumen, and perhaps some sand, into the mix? Well, I've seen some KZbin videos where people have been mixing waste plastic and bitumen into plastic roads. But let's make the mix ratio into 50% mixed plastic and 50% asphalt. Then the other would be 1 part plastic, 1 part asphalt and 2 parts sand. Many of us just wanted to know if it's possible to make recycled bricks or pavements out of such mixtures.

[@yudhachandra1612]

here you go kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3fGgaSOraaIja8&ab_channel=BusinessInsider

[@michaelmichaels5836]

Are those knipex

[@bsku8568]

I have a headache now.

[@guillermorodriguez3972]

first of all these resins are not compatible, if you mix pp with pet it will not blend it will cause a chemical reaction and it will turn runny and not set, if you mix pet and hpde it will not blend together it will split or peel apart like a laminate the same with pp and hdpe , it will split apart like a laminate . you can blend small amounts of hdpe with pp, or vise versa and blend it together but it would have to be like a 10%/90% ratio or less.

[@naly202]

The sad thing is that while we are lectured about not burning plastic because it's harmful, at governmental levels, this is exactly what happens to plastic: it either gets dumped in huge pits and burnt, or sent to other countries and let the poor blighters deal with it.

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

The good thing is that at least some (don't know how many) plastic burning facilities use a clean-burning method. When hot enough, plastic breaks down into water and oxygen.

[@itchyvet]

Whilst this idea may seem to be a good idea, in the long run, it does nothing to stop the pollution. ALL plastics exposed to weather,break down into microscopic particles which then blow around in the air everywhere and get into our food sources and water. Better idea would be to reconvert to fuels and burn the stuff.

[@naly202]

I agree with this point

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

True. And realistically, no amount of personal lifestyle changes or hobby usage will curb the industry. It's a systemic problem. At least it gets people thinking about it.

[@777fiddlekrazy]

Each plastic must be heated up to its melt point Only. Then you might be able to mix them. This is a timed and crucial heat to melt point for each. You never want to bring Any of the plastics to Flash off and smoke yield.

[@_Wai_Wai_]

I would imagine these trash plastic, can be shaped into some sort of Cinder block, and could be used for building material?

[@jameszorb8420]

They do that in Africa.

[@Namedeeznuts]

@@jameszorb8420 they should Recycle trash and turn it into trash cans.

[@proinstallers3872]

I can smell the cancer all the way here!

[@bethelgues3918]

Burning plastic is fine... but just know that's what you are doing. Granted its not combusting, but you are degrading the plastic here. Your better off melting the plastic in an oven. (PP, PS, and PE (LD, or HD) aren't very fume producing. You can set your oven to like 400F and melt the plastic that way. But yeah, you get wildly different properties when you mix plastic. PP has something unique to PP, PS has something that make it unique, and so does PE.

[@ichangedmyname0001]

5:28 look at the " black pure plastic " on the right. Whatever that white stuff is that plopped right in the middle, I'm assuming that's why it had a crack in the middle. Literally looks like paper, should've pulled it out with your bare hands

[@cygnusbass]

videos you can smell

[@listenhere2006]

that is a lot of dangerous fog isn't it?

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

Yes! It's very toxic and a lot of it! Some plastic can be safety heated when the temperature is actually controlled. Over a fire, anything could happen.

[@urbansapes6475]

Maybe not on the grass tho ?

[@virtual7insanity]

and? does it dissapear?

[@helenhobbs5472]

This is not recycling. This is melting a bunch of things until they are completely unusable. I don't even think a recycling plant would accept them now. Get a blessed machine or some other brand that converts plastic into gasoline, kerosene, and diesel. That would be more useful for your purposes and less messy.

[@mbburry4759]

He is experimenting and didnt seem to think it would make useable material anyhow. And actually If you wanted to turn it into liquid fuel it is likely just as useful still, but yah normal recycling wouldnt work for the blob and refining plastics into fuel (besides burning in incinerator) isnt easy to do at home or for industry yet

[@tijntrix]

All over the globe they make bricks tiles and other stuff out of this... Mixture with fine dust / sand and the possibilities are endless

[@freedomissexy]

Broooo, do you even have a mask on??!

[@rockspoon6528]

Not like the fraying dust filters in his respirator are going to do jack anyway.

[@claudiocorrea7220]

Faça uma forma de aço no formato de uma peça Lego, que vire tijolo de parede de encaixe 🧩, um fôrma que se abre e feche como um grande espremedor de limão, coloque pedaços de plásticos dentro leve para uma fogueira forte e assim que derreter, prescione e enfia dentro da água, depois abra e deixe a peça de encaixe lego para formar paredes de tijolos 🧱 uma casa, simples assim! 🤔

[@Jezidka]

Wanna make a brick mold like a Lego mold I am sure you could make a house out of it.

[@user-ck7ny8ek2o]

Your lungs will be crying.

[@AmieEss]

Cancer cauldron.

[@StephenStrangeX]

You burned them lol

[@Bulbaovesen]

Shouldn't mix different types of plastic together not only is it dangerous but makes it non recyclable in the future

[@rockspoon6528]

Yep. Turned reusable/recyclable materials into brittle, toxic crap.

[@markianecat1093]

I was trouble shooting by melting it by hot water

[@amtoo2898]

Bro! You just made burnt junk. AND you are breathing in real bad stuff. YOU NEED A TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED OVEN! Even then, it won't hurt to shield the plastic from direct radiative heat with oven paper on all sides. And really, as a home operation, just stick to LDPE or HDPE. All the other plastics and labels are just too unfriendly for home recycling. BUT TO PUT A CAN OVER FLAMES!!! - DIRECT CONDUCTIVE HEAT??? OMG! It's a joke right?

[@x.mjayshan5460]

How can u melt plastics they cause air pollution

[@rockspoon6528]

Melting them doesn't pollute much, burning them properly doesn't either. But this? This in-between with a variety of plastics in an uncontrolled environment with fluctuating temperatures? This makes a hell of a lot of pollution.

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

Different plastic have different results. This video shows how to ENSURE that it's highly toxic. If you do something like melt PP in a tempurature-controled environment, it should be reasonably safe.

[@Amithrius]

Bro this isn't recycling. This is worse than leaving the bottles in a landfill.

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

I know this video is over 2 years old at this point but I sincerely hope for your sake that you never do this again

[@popinmo]

It looks like oil

[@diegoomarguzmanaguilar8641]

Where can you sell that? once you mix it together

[@rockspoon6528]

You can't because it's objectively garbage. Toxic, useless garbage.

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

Nowhere. He burnt it.

[@ItsD_Dkiller]

The video small bad 😁😁

[@messiah2534]

Can you repeat this experiment with adding old engine oil?

[@tijntrix]

Why whats the benevits ?

[@messiah2534]

@@tijntrix Oil make all items inside same temp like boiling water in soup. if you crush all materials to small pieces and add oil then melt it and mixing all the time then you should get one consistency liquid.

[@tijntrix]

@@messiah2534 wow... Thanks bro.. Gonna try it out.. Haha 🙏🙏

[@tijntrix]

@@messiah2534 are the fuses that are going .. Less by this ? Because it got trapped in the oil ?

[@prettselk]

That is a terrible idea. And it wont work. Different plastics have different melting points - so everything being the same temperature changes nothing. Adding oil will make the sludge much less usefull though. And more hazardous.

[@ericwood319]

Not that common sense

[@ubme21]

Is this how tar is made

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

No but it might as well be.

[@MichaelLeeOne]

That looks like sin lol

[@littleHuey0007]

That is way to hot 🔥 your supposed to use a metal steel wire to set the pot on at least 8 inches from the fire..

[@martyfoster7053]

HAHA.... "it's almost like a liquid".... LOL it IS a liquid, not just "like" one!

[@PiggieP]

this need to be outlawed. just like pouring oil down the drain. 🤦‍♂️ he needs a dad

[@andyterbov]

ты природе навредил больше чем помог

[@22ago]

I think you have to find a job!

[@rockspoon6528]

Might not live long enough to matter if he's breathing this shit on a regular basis.

[@VidarrKerr]

Dude, you are creating so much pollution, it is unreal. Do this properly.

[@ivelissevalle1920]

Mold for fake shfigrearts goku😮

[@yvesrochet3288]

Very bad pollution, learn about dioxine please and carcinogenic components for you and neightbouring 😏

[@rccrash_basher8944]

Danm it not the. Est idea

[@clfl02]

Such a bad practice what you're doing here

[@invader_britt]

Isn’t this toxic for the environment??

[@rockspoon6528]

Yes... and everyone downwind.

[@erlenmeyer5998]

Too many people acting serious, this man is saving the world by recycling plastic.

[@cyanotunes]

Dude... no

[@amazingscore9097]

I know that shit stinks

[@tonycstech]

You have just proven the world that plastic is NOT recyclable.

[@rockspoon6528]

...not when you mix plastics with wildly different thermal properties into a toxic sludge, no. When you keep plastics in their proper groups so their melting points are identical then of course they're recyclable.

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

He proved that plastic is burnable. Are you really trying to cast doubt on the endlessly proven concept of reforming plastic? That's like saying "wax doesn't melt" or "paper doesn't burn". Yes, plastic recycles. It's very good at it actually.

[@matttaylor1117]

You call that recycling but really the only thing you did was make blocks of plastic and make toxic air pollution. Keep trying though.

[@darksun4523]

Not a good look. ☠️

[@mde3370]

Thumbs down you 🤬🤬!!

[@christiantubach-stevenson9382]

NO don't mix 3 plastics together severely lava caution

[@Ibonic]

Looks like my ex wife's cooking

[@jkrules4161]

This was stupid

[@hdj81Vlimited]

thats useless.

[@rodrigopanachao2234]

see? its not that easy to recycle plastic

[@rockspoon6528]

It is when you're not messing everything up.

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

It is when you don't do it like a chaos gremlin

[@brianmurphy8790]

You had it way too hot and exposed to air. Looks like you turned most of it to gas and were left with plasticised carbon.

[@SxxyHny]

Can I use this for a pig