Editing Recycling (section)

==== Physical recycling ====
Some plastics are remelted to form new plastic objects; for example, PET water bottles can be converted into polyester destined for clothing. A disadvantage of this type of recycling is that the molecular weight of the polymer can change further and the levels of unwanted substances in the plastic can increase with each remelt.<ref name="SilvaGouveia2019">{{cite book | author1 = Francisco José Gomes da Silva | author2 = Ronny Miguel Gouveia | date = 18 July 2019 | title = Cleaner Production: Toward a Better Future | publisher = Springer | page = 180 | isbn = 978-3-03-023165-1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ouijDwAAQBAJ | access-date = 30 August 2022 | archive-date = 20 February 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230220183216/https://books.google.com/books?id=ouijDwAAQBAJ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="LongScheirs2005">{{cite book | author1 = Timothy E. Long | author2 = John Scheirs | date = 1 September 2005 | title = Modern Polyesters: Chemistry and Technology of Polyesters and Copolyesters | publisher = John Wiley & Sons | page = 459 | isbn = 978-0-470-09067-1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgxgZ5vfxTkC | access-date = 30 August 2022 | archive-date = 20 February 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230220183215/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgxgZ5vfxTkC | url-status = live }}</ref>

A commercial-built recycling facility was sent to the [[International Space Station]] in late 2019. The facility takes in [[plastic waste]] and unneeded plastic parts and physically converts them into spools of feedstock for the space station [[additive manufacturing]] facility used for in-space [[3D printing]].<ref name=sn20191021>{{cite news |last=Werner |first=Debra |url=https://spacenews.com/made-in-space-to-launch-commercial-recycler-to-space-station/ |title=Made in Space to launch commercial recycler to space station |work=[[SpaceNews]] |date=21 October 2019 |access-date=22 October 2019 |archive-date=20 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220183223/https://spacenews.com/made-in-space-to-launch-commercial-recycler-to-space-station/ |url-status=live }}</ref>