Das Plastik soll recycelt werden, damit es nicht im Restmüll landet.

The plastic should be recycled so that it does not end up in the residual waste.

Breakdown of Das Plastik soll recycelt werden, damit es nicht im Restmüll landet.

• nicht: not
• es: it
• sollen: should
• damit: so that
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• das Plastik: the plastic
• landen: to end up
• der Restmüll: the residual waste
• recycelt werden: to be recycled

Questions & Answers about Das Plastik soll recycelt werden, damit es nicht im Restmüll landet.

Why is it das Plastik and not der/die Plastik?

Plastik can have different genders depending on meaning. In this sentence it means plastic as a material, which is commonly neuter: das Plastik.
If you mean a plastic object / plastic (as an item), people sometimes use other genders in certain contexts, but das Plastik is the standard for the material.

What does soll mean here—does it mean “should,” “is supposed to,” or “will”?

Here soll expresses a recommendation / expectation / instruction: it’s supposed to be recycled or it should be recycled.
It does not primarily mean future like English “will.” For a neutral future you’d typically use the present tense (often without any special marker) or werden as a future auxiliary in other structures.

Why is soll recycelt werden in this order, and why are there two verbs at the end?

This is modal verb + passive.

• soll is the modal (finite verb in position 2 in a main clause)
• recycelt werden is the passive infinitive (non-finite verbs go to the end)

So the structure is: Das Plastik soll … recycelt werden.
In German, when you stack verbs, the non-finite parts typically cluster at the end.

Is this a passive sentence? How can I tell?

Yes—this is the process passive (Vorgangspassiv) built with werden.
A quick test: the thing being acted on (das Plastik) is the subject, and the “action” is expressed with Partizip II + werden → recycelt werden = to be recycled.

Why is recycelt written like that? Is it a real German word?

It’s a commonly used loan-verb from English: recyceln (also seen as recyclen).
The form recycelt is the Partizip II (past participle) used in the passive: recycelt werden.
You may also encounter recycelt spelled the same way even if the infinitive is written recyclen—spelling varies in real life.

Could I add who should do the recycling (like “by someone”)? Where would that go?

Yes. You can add an agent with von + dative (or sometimes durch if it’s more about the means). For example:

• Das Plastik soll von allen Haushalten recycelt werden.
• Das Plastik soll durch ein spezielles Verfahren recycelt werden.
  These extra phrases usually go in the middle field (before the final verb cluster), but word order is flexible.

Why do we use damit here, and what exactly does it do?

damit introduces a purpose clause: so that / in order that.
It explains the goal of recycling the plastic: so that it doesn’t end up in residual waste.
In German, damit requires a subordinate clause with the verb at the end.

Could this be um … zu instead of damit?

Sometimes, but not as naturally here.
um … zu is used when the purpose clause has the same subject as the main clause and usually refers to an agent who intends something. Here the main clause is passive (Das Plastik soll …) and the purpose is about what happens to the plastic (es landet nicht…), so damit is the straightforward choice.
You might see alternatives if you rephrase actively, e.g. Wir recyceln das Plastik, um zu verhindern, dass …

Why does the sentence switch from das Plastik to es?

es is simply the pronoun referring back to das Plastik. German often uses a pronoun in the second clause to avoid repeating the noun:
…, damit es nicht … landet. = …, so that it doesn’t … end up.

Why is it landet and not something like kommt?

landen is very common for “ending up (somewhere), often unintentionally.”
So im Restmüll landen means to end up in the residual waste bin (i.e., thrown away incorrectly). kommen would sound less idiomatic for this “ended up there” meaning.

What does im Restmüll mean, and why is it im?

Restmüll is residual waste—the general trash that isn’t separated for recycling (often the “black bin” in Germany).
im is a contraction of in dem (dative):

• in dem Restmüll → im Restmüll
  It’s dative because it describes a location (“in the trash”).

Why is nicht placed before im Restmüll?

Because the negation is targeting the location phrase: not in residual waste.
So nicht im Restmüll = “not in the residual waste (bin).”
If you moved nicht, the focus could change, but this placement is the normal, clear option.

Why is there a comma before damit?

German uses a comma to separate a main clause from a subordinate clause.
Since damit introduces a subordinate clause, the comma is required:
Das Plastik soll recycelt werden, damit …