Have you been introduced to our Busta Mascot? Plastics are used to make all sorts of things. They are often thought to be cheap and disposable but recycled plastic has lots of value. One of the many items that recycled plastic is used to make is our Busta Mascot from Wastebuster! This is the story of how items we no longer want are turned into an adorable character.

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Plastics Plastics are cheap to make and tough.   They can be recycled into many different things. Plastics have been around for about 100 years but they are considered to be modern when compared to traditional materials like wood, stone, metal, glass and paper. They can be moulded into complex shapes and forms, allowing them to be used for many different items. The properties of the plastics e.g. strength, colour and flexibility, can be changed to meet specific requirements.   Plastics are durable and cheap to manufacture and as a result of this, are often seen as single use and disposable. There is also a lot of confusion about which types of plastic can be recycled so often people believe there is little point in recycling items Recycling plastic is important as this avoid it being buried in landfill; recycling just 1 tonne of plastic bottles saves 1.5 tonnes of carbon from being released and recycling just one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a 60 watt bulb for 6 hours.  Notes: Consider questions for pupils to think about Ask your pupils what sort of items they think recycled plastic could be used to make. Image: Chineese_plastic_toys3.jpg (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chineese_plastic_toys3.JPG)

What can recycled plastics make? Plastics can be recycled into many different items including: 25 PET bottles can be recycled to make a fleece jacket Plastic wrapping (packaging films) can be turned into fencing and garden furniture Just 5 plastic bottles are used to make a Busta mascot.   Image: garden-furniture-277418_640.jpg (http://pixabay.com/p-277418/?no_redirect) Madera_plástica.jpg (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madera_pl%C3%A1stica.jpg) And Busta mascots!

How to make a Busta Mascot 1. First plastic is collected and squashed into bales. Something to consider with your pupils: How is plastic collected? Where could it be collected from? In the UK, we use over 5 million tonnes of plastics every year with the types PET and HDPE being the most commonly recycled. Recycling at home is usually easy as most local councils provide a collection from homes. 96% of councils collect plastic bottles (PET and HDPE) while only 60% collect pots, tubs and trays (mainly made from HDPE but could also be other types of plastic). In the UK the recycling rate of bottles is 58% whereas only 19% of pots, tubs and trays are recycled. (http://www.recoup.org/news/7192/2013-uk-household-plastics-collection-survey).

How to make a Busta Mascot 2. Next the plastic is sorted. Explain the different ways plastic gets sorted, you could bring in different types of plastic for the pupils to sort themselves After collecting the materials for recycling, they are sorted. Several processes are used for this, some items are picked out by hand but others are filtered by different machines which identify the properties of each plastic item. One such machine shines a light onto the plastic and can identify the type by what is reflected back. Image: 1024px-TriagemDeLixo.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_sorting)  

How to make a Busta Mascot 3. Then the plastic is cut up into little flakes. Even after sorting, some containers will have parts made from different plastics (like the collars and lids of bottles), and to remove these, the items are first chipped into flakes. These flakes are then washed to separate the plastics that float, then using light the flakes of plastic are separated in to different colours. These colours are mixed in a machine to make the right colour ‘Busta blue’. Image: 1280px-Froth_Flotation_Plant_at_Argonne.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Froth_flotation)

How to make a Busta Mascot 4. After cutting, the flakes are heated and put under pressure squeezing them into chips. The machine heats and mixes the flakes, squeezing out the resulting paste to be cut into "chips". Image: 1024px-Nurdles_01_gentlemanrook.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_particle_water_pollution)

How to make a Busta Mascot 5. Now the chips can be heated and pulled apart to form threads. This is called extrusion. The thread is woven to make cloth or even stuffing. The chips undergo more heating and pressure, and are pulled into thread to make cloth and even the stuffing material.   Image: 1280px-Filet_de_pêche_DSC00632.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monofilament_fishing_line)

See the magic 6.Finally the cloth and stuffing are magically formed to make a Busta Mascot And then, well there's a little bit of Wastebuster magic to make the Busta Mascot, but that’s top secret!   Image: Infographics_plastics_recycling_baby_busta_A3.png