Types of Recyclable Plastic

Generally, the safest choices for food use are numbers 1, 2, 4 and 5. Number 3 is vinyl or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), number 6 is polystyrene and number 7 can be a number of different plastics. Also, some plastic containers with the numbers 3 and 7 may contain BPA. Whenever possible, I recommend choosing glass food storage containers.

But high-density polyethylene (or HDPE) plastic has been courting my favor recently. Not only is it one of the most versatile of plastics—used in everything from hard hats to house wraps—it’s also widely recycled, in both its rigid form (e.g., containers) and flexible form (e.g., bags).

Plastic bags, as common as they are, are still not as widely recycled as other forms of plastic. According to the EPA, only 12 percent of the category of plastics that includes bags, sacks, and wraps ended up getting recycled in 2012.

Recycling Guide: Plastic, Glass, Metal, Paper, ... recycling decisions with best practices across plastic, glass, metal ... Aluminum and steel can be recycled over ...

Plastic grocery and produce sacks are commonly placed in recycle bins. These bags can shut down an entire recycling plant and should be kept out of our recycling bin. Plastic bags are often collected in barrels at grocery stores, and usually end up as plastic lumber.

It seems like there is always a mysterious never ending list of what can and cannot be recycled. ... Cereal/snack cardboard boxes ... Plastic Utensils Recycling ...

Polyethylene Terephthalate, known commonly as PET or PETE is best known as the clear plastic used for water and soda bottle containers. As a raw material, PET is globally recognized as a safe, non-toxic, strong, lightweight, flexible material that is 100% recyclable.

Polyethylene Terephthalate, known commonly as PET or PETE is best known as the clear plastic used for water and soda bottle containers. As a raw material, PET is globally recognized as a safe, non-toxic, strong, lightweight, flexible material that is 100% recyclable.

Thanks to collective efforts tracking back to the 1990s, when plastics recycling really started to grow, HDPE has become quite skilled at evading landfills. Nearly all curbside recycling programs today in the U.S. accept HDPE bottles, which has helped HDPE bottles break the billion pound mark for recycling in 2012.

Aliases: Other than the “poison plastic,” this type goes by several names including polyvinyl chloride, PVC, vinyl, plastic #3. Consumption rates: PVC plastic is the third most common type used in the US and the UK bottle market with a 0.8% market share (behind PET plastic and polypropylene).

LDPE’s lower density and branched molecules give it somewhat different properties than HDPE, although they do share some similar uses, such as packaging. LDPE/HDPE differences typically cause them to be collected separately for recycling … but not always (more on that later).

If you need a plastic that can take the heat, it’ll likely be polypropylene plastics (PP for short). With a high melting point, PP plastics are also great at preventing moisture transmission and are virtually inert in the face of things like acids and solvents.

With a reputation for being hard to recycle, polystyrene, or PS plastic, is another type you should be worried about if you want to clean-up your waste bin and keep plastics from the environment. Used for foam cups and plates, as packing material, in CD containers, and even toys, PS plastic is everywhere, but recycling options are few and far between.

Recycling plastics 1-6 is usually pretty straightforward, as each category correlates with a specific resin. But plastic #7 is literally the “catch-all” category. Dubbed as “Other,” plastic #7 includes those resins that do not fit into categories 1-6.

Extruded polystyrene (XPS) is designed to be used in building materials and is not found in consumer foam cups or take-out containers. But many people still use the name to refer to expanded polystyrene (EPS).

Polypropylene, abbreviated as PP, is a recyclable thermoplastic polymer widely used in many different applications including automotive components, reusable containers of different types, plastic parts, packaging and labeling, loudspeakers, polymer banknotes, stationery, and textiles, including carpets, ropes, and thermal underwear.

Polystyrene is a very versatile material, but recycling it isn't always easy. The term polystyrene means that the plastic is derived from styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon. When heated, monomer styrene molecules link together into long chains, creating a polymer material that's solid when it cools to room temperature.

Staying Flexible On Rigid Plastics This 2009 Plastic Recycling Update article provides a technical assessment of the status of non-bottle rigid plastics recycling. 2012 National Report on Post-Consumer Non-Bottle Rigid Plastic Recycling The 2012 National Postconsumer Recycling Report on Non-Bottle Rigid Plastics is the sixth annual report on U.S. pounds of postconsumer non-bottle rigid plastics—packaging and non-packaging—recovered for recycling.

Items with food waste do contaminate batches of recyclables and end up getting thrown out (though I suppose they could wash the offending items and then recycle them if they really wanted to). I'm not sure on a tolerance level, though I'm sure there is some. Perhaps someone else can chime in there.