Recycling Symbol and its Importance | Infinita Labs

Exactly What Every Plastic Recycling Symbol Really Means

It’s easy to get the impression that all current American products are made of plastic. The material is everywhere: in vehicles, toys, packaging, apparel, housewares, cooking utensils, and more. However, it is also found in street trash, river sediment, and marine life. The World Economic Forum reported on a study published in the journal Science that predicted 8.8 million tons of plastic packaging would enter the oceans annually. According to the research, that number will rise dramatically by 2025.

The UN Environment Programme reports that fewer than 10% of plastic garbage produced worldwide has ever been recycled, despite the fact that many plastics are technically recyclable. Consumers may be left scratching their heads as they try to decipher what the myriad recycling laws and symbols on their plastic packaging actually mean. The universal plastic resin symbol (three chasing arrows in a triangle) is always the same, but the numbers inside always vary from one to seven. Just so you know, the chasing arrows symbol just indicates the type of plastic used in a product; it does not guarantee that the product is recyclable.

At the Good Housekeeping Research Institute, we care deeply about environmental protection and long-term sustainability. To assist you in making environmentally responsible purchases, we provide resources such as guides to understanding “eco-friendly” statements and announcements of Sustainable Innovation Award recipients. 

How to identify recyclable plastics

The recycling policies of various municipalities vary, so it’s important to research the specifics of your area. As an added note, “there are times when your recycling program may change what it collects,” as Mike Brown of Brown and Wilmanns Environmental, one of Good Housekeeping’s environmental consultants, puts it. He claims that your municipality may still collect the stuff in question, keep it, or otherwise dispose of it, even if there is no feasible way to recycle it. The symbols themselves require clarification, of course.

PET, or PETE, is the first recycling symbol for plastic.

Since it is low-cost, lightweight, and simple to recycle, polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE) has become the plastic of choice for single-use beverage bottles. It is less likely that PET will hold decomposition products during recycling, allowing them to seep out into the environment. Although manufacturers have a strong need for it, recycling rates for this material remain low (about 20%).

Most curbside recycling services will collect PET or PETE containers that have been washed and dried of any remnants of food before recycling them. Caps are typically composed of a different sort of plastic than the rest of the bottle, so our environmental experts suggest it’s best to throw them away in the garbage rather than the recycle bin. The recycling process automatically separates bottle labels from their contents. If the plastic being recycled is pure enough and free of harmful pollutants, it can be turned into polar fleece, fiber, tote bags, furniture, carpet, paneling, straps, bottles, and food containers.

Symbols for Plastic Recycling,

HDPE (high-density polyethylene) is the second plastic recycling symbol. HDPE is a multipurpose plastic that is especially useful for packaging. It may be recycled into numerous products and has little threat of leaching.

Milk jugs, juice bottles, bottles of bleach, detergent, and other home cleaners, shampoo bottles, certain types of garbage bags and shopping bags, containers for motor oil, yogurt, and butter, and liners for cereal boxes all contain plastic.

Most curbside recycling services will pick up HDPE; however, others will only accept containers with necks. Some stores may collect and recycle thin plastics (such as shopping bags and plastic wrap), although this is the exception rather than the rule.

Shampoo bottles, oil bottles, plastic pens, recycling bins, floor tiles, drainage pipes, lumber, benches, dog kennels, picnic tables, fencing, and many more items may all be made from recycled materials.

Three Symbols for Plastic Recycling

PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and vinyl (V) are frequently used for piping and siding because they are durable and resistant to the elements. PVC is inexpensive and widely used because of this fact. PVC contains chlorine, which can cause the release of carcinogenic dioxins during production. Burning PVC emits toxic fumes; therefore, avoid doing so at all costs.

Useful in blister packs, electrical wires are frequently found on walls, glass, and plumbing.

PVC and V are difficult to recycle; however, some plastic lumber manufacturers will take them. To find out if you can throw either item away or if you need to bring it to a collection center, contact your local waste management company.

Products such as flooring, cables, speed bumps, mats, mud flaps, and roadway gutters are all made from recycled materials.

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is a versatile plastic with recycling symbol number 4. Although it has traditionally been rejected by most American recycling programs, an increasing number of localities are beginning to embrace the material.

Items including bread bags, frozen food bags, dry cleaning bags, shopping bags, tote bags, and even furniture have been found to contain this substance.

Although LDPE is rarely accepted by curbside recycling programs, it can be recycled in some areas. This means that we can safely dispose of LDPE products like toothpaste tubes. Plastic grocery bags can sometimes be recycled in the same way HDPE plastic water bottles can.

Trash cans and liners, compost bins, mailing envelopes, paneling, timber, landscaping ties, and ceramic floor tiles are all products of recycling.

5 Recycling Symbols for Plastic

Because of its high melting point, PP (polypropylene) is frequently used for the storage of hot beverages. Recyclers are coming around to the idea.

Some yogurt containers, syrup and medicine bottles, bottle tops, and drinking straws all include them. Some curbside recycling programs accept PP; if you participate in one of these, be sure there is no food inside the container before recycling it. Loose caps are best discarded in the trash rather than recycled. They are too small to be caught by recycling sorting screens.Signal lights, battery cables, brooms, brushes, automobile battery cases, ice scrapers, landscape borders, bicycle racks, rakes, bins, pallets, and trays are just some of the items that may be made from recycled materials.

Six Symbols for Reusing Plastic

Foam goods derived from PS (polystyrene) are commonly referred to by the brand name Styrofoam. Styrene oxide is classified as a likely carcinogen, while styrene monomer is a potential human carcinogen that can seep into foods. Because it spreads so widely and is so difficult to recycle, the material has long been a target of environmentalists’ criticism. Even though it’s 98% air, most places still won’t accept it in foam form. Discovered in takeout containers, CD cases, aspirin bottles, and disposable dishes and cups.

 Recyclability issues: Curbside recycling programs frequently reject PS-stiff plastics (and many producers have switched to using PET instead). Foam items have a tendency to disintegrate into tiny pellets, so it’s important to put them in a bag, squeeze out the air, and then tie the bag up before throwing it away.

 Products such as insulation, light switch plates, egg cartons, vents, rulers, foam packaging, and takeout containers are all made from recycled materials.

Plastics to Be Recycled: Other

The vast majority of plastic resins that don’t fall into the other groups are grouped here. Polycarbonate is a #7 material; it’s the transparent, hard plastic that has parents anxious because BPA (bisphenol A) is one of its building blocks and has been shown to disrupt hormones in laboratory animals. For example, PLA (polylactic acid) is a carbon-neutral plastic manufactured from plants.

Water bottles (3 and 5 gallons), bulletproof materials, sunglasses, DVDs, clear plastic cutlery, light bulbs, signage and displays, food storage containers, nylon, and more all contain BPA. 

When it comes to recycling, you shouldn’t count on your local service to take these alternative plastics. To get the most up-to-date information, check your local government’s website.