Plastic By The Number

Recycling codes are used to identify the materials out of which the item is made, to facilitate easier recycling process. The presence on an item of a recycling code, a chasing arrows logo, or a resin code, is not an automatic indicator that a material is recyclable; it is an explanation of what the item is made of. Codes have been developed for batteries, bio matter, glass, metals, paper, and plastics. Today we will discuss about the plastic by numbers. There are 7 different code/Number for plastic recycling such:

1 Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET/PETE)        

A clear hard plastic often used as single-use food and drink containers such as water & pop bottles, vegetable oil containers, peanut butter containers, cleaning product bottles, and some prepared frozen food containers.

Recyclability:

Recycled polyethylene terephthalate is known as RPET and the most widely recycled plastic in the world.

Recycled Product Uses:

Fiber for carpet

Fleece jackets, comforter fill, tote bags

Containers for food, beverages (bottles), and non-food items

Film and sheeting

Strapping

2 High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)        

A hard plastic not as transparent PET that is often used for household cleaners, buckets, shampoo bottles, and yogurt containers.

Recyclability:

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HDPE is accepted worldwide because it is one of the easiest plastic polymers to recycle. Most recycling companies will collect HDPE material and take these to large facilities to be processed. If there are other plastics in the batch the recycled end-product may be ruined.

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Recycled Product Uses:

Bottles for non-food items (shampoo, soaps, cleaners, etc.)

Plastic lumber

Recycling bins

Floor tiles

Buckets, bins and crates

Flower pots and garden edging

Film and sheeting

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3 Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)        

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Frequently used for vinyl and pipes and not as stiff as PET and HDPE. It is the primary base plastic in a variety of piping, paneling, decking, fencing, bottles, credit cards, and IV fluid bags and tubing. PVC products have an average lifetime of 30 years, with some reaching 50 or more years.

Recyclability:

There is high chlorine content in raw PVC (around 56% of its weight), as well as high levels of hazardous additives added to achieve desired material quality. As a result, PVC requires separation from other plastics for recycling.

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Recycled Product Uses:

Piping

Decking, fencing, gutters

Garden hoses

Carpet backing, floor tiles, resilient flooring & mats

Mud flaps

Electrical boxes and cables

Traffic cones

Mobile home skirting

Packaging, film and sheets?

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4 Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)        

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A soft flexible plastic that is often used as: bread bags, frozen food bags, and plastic shopping bags.

Recyclability:

To be recycled the plastic film must be separated, which includes HPDE film from LDPE film. In addition, clear films should be separated from coloured or printed film. Film that is not separated can affect its value.

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Recycled Product Uses:

Shipping envelopes

Garbage can liners

Floor tiles and paneling

Furniture

Film and sheeting

Compost bins and trash cans

Landscape timber and outdoor lumber

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5 Polypropylene (PP)        

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A plastic commonly found in caps, some yogurt containers, medicine bottles, and straws.

Recyclability:

One of the least recycled post-consumer plastics at a rate less than 1%. The recycling process involves 5 steps: collection, sorting, cleaning, reprocessing by melting, and producing new products from recycled PP. The melting process involves two steps: melting PP at nearly 250°C to get rid of contaminant molecules; removing residual molecules under vacuum and solidification at 140°C. The products made following this process can be blended with virgin PP at a rate up to 50%.

Recycled Product Uses:

Automobile applications: battery cases, signal lights, battery cables

Brooms, brushes and ice scrapers, garden rakes

Oil funnels

Bicycle racks

Storage bins

Shipping pallets, sheeting, trays

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6 Polystyrene (PS)        

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Commonly found as single-use coffee cups, single-use utensils, and take-out food containers, and trademarked as Styrofoam.

Recyclability:

Challenging and expensive because it is low density and on average 98 per cent air. It must be shipped to a facility where it can be compressed to become cost- and time-effective to transfer it over long distances to be recycled and reused.

Recycled Product Uses:?

Thermal insulation

Thermometers

License plate frames

Camera or video cassette casings

Plastic moldings (i.e., wood replacement products)

Protective packaging

Light switch plates

Desk trays

Egg shell cartons

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?7 Other Plastics?        

This category of plastics represents everything that does not fit in the above resin codes, such as polycarbonates (PC). It also includes multi-resin and mixed plastic items. Examples include electronic equipment, glasses frames, and plastic brick toys.

Recyclability:

Polycarbonates (PC), for example, are most difficult to recycle. One method of recycling polycarbonate is by chemical recycling. However, recycled PC may show lesser resilience and has reduced impact resistance when compared to newly manufactured PC. Products that are made with mixed plastics are difficult to recycle conventionally.

Recycled Product Uses:

Bottles

Plastic lumber applications

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