Plastic Q & A

Even though recycling has been around for decades, there’s still a great deal to learn about it. Especially as our focus on environmental issues as a nation continues to rise, our collective knowledge about sustainable options like recycling is more crucial than ever.

But let’s be honest for a moment: You can’t know everything. Maybe you know a bit, and maybe you want to know more, but knowing it all is a lofty goal to achieve.

So to be sure we addressed what you really want to know, we asked our Facebook Fans: What is your No. 1 question about recycling plastic?

We got some great questions from our Fans and answered them with our own knowledge and help from Keith Christman, managing director of plastics markets for the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and an expert in all things plastic.

1. Part A.) Why are plastics #1 and #2 the most common to be accepted for recycling? I wish facilities would accept all plastics! Part B.) Also, if programs say no plastic bags, but accept #2 plastics, would bags like #2 Subway bags be included?

a.) To answer this question, we have to go back into a bit of history. According to Christman, plastics recycling initially started with bottles. And if you recall, plastic #1 and plastic #2 are the predominate plastics in bottles – making up about 96 percent of the materials used.

The mainstays of plastic recycling initially began with the plastic bottle. Photo: Flickr/cocolima

“As we see recycling opportunities expand around the country [...] cities are expanding the size of bins, the types of materials they take,” said Christman, noting that not only does a city’s transition to single-stream recycling “dramatically increase” the amount of plastic recycled, but also that the method of collection can greatly influence a recycling program’s success.

“It’s become more popular to talk about applications and types of plastics rather than numbers. People tend more now to emphasize the type of product, like a bottle, a rigid container, a yogurt or butter tub, and more programs are accepting all the kinds of plastics in that way,” he said.

Also, increasing the amount of material provides more revenue for them for your recycling program, helping it grow further and continue to accept new materials.

b.) One of the things not commonly collected in curbside collection programs are bags and, and according to Christman, “That’s because there’s a better way to do it.”

“Most large grocery stores take bags and wraps, and the reason for that is the infrastructure [such as the equipment, conveyor belts and processes at recycling facilities] is setup for taking things like cardboard, bottles and cans but not flexible materials,” he said.

Bringing your bags to the store also helps to keep the materials cleaner, which we’ll continue discussing in Question #5.

2. Which plastic bags can be recycled? I mean things like bread bags, Ziploc bags, etc.

Plastic bags are generally made from plastic #2. This material can hold up to 2,000 times its own weight, making it the perfect product for transport. However, because of their light weight, plastic bags are often hard to recycle and left out of curbside programs. But most major grocery store chains have in-store recycling bins for plastic bags.

There is a high demand for this material, and in most areas, demand exceeds the available supply, because many consumers are not aware that collection programs are available in stores. The trick is actually remembering to take those excess bags with you the next time you go shopping.

So, what can you bring exactly? According to plasticbagreycling.org, all the following types of plastic bags and film can go in your local grocery store bin:

In 2007, more than 830 million pounds of plastic bags and film were recycled, a 27 percent increase from 2005. Photo: Amanda Wills, Earth911.com

• Newspaper bags
• Dry cleaning bags
• Bread bags
• Produce bags
• Toilet paper, napkin and paper towel wraps
• Furniture wrap
• Electronic wrap
• Plastic retail bags (hard plastic and string handles removed)
• Grocery bag
• Zip lock bags (remove hard components)
• Plastic cereal box liners (if it tears like paper do not include)
• Tyvek (no glue, labels, other material)
• Diaper wrap (packaging)
• Plastic shipping envelopes (no bubble wrap, remember to remove labels)
• Case wrap (e.g. snacks, water bottles)
• All clean, dry bags labeled #2 or #4

The key here is to remove any non-plastic parts from these bags, including food scraps, receipts and non-plastic decor like fabric handles on shopping bags.

3. How do they sort recyclables they receive? If they find something non-recyclable, do they disregard the rest from the same bag? How much of what I put into the recycling actually gets recycled?

“A good rule of thumb is that if a community is asking for it, then it will get recycled,” says Christman. “Now, if it’s too contaminated, it could go in the trash. But, they’re going to recover as much as they can, because they get revenue if they get more material [to recycle].”

Also, it’s always a good rule of thumb to check your community’s recycling guidelines on a regular basis, perhaps every few months or so. This applies to all of your recyclables, not just plastic. After all, “What was not recyclable a few years ago, now your community may really want it.”

4. I recycle a lot of plastic, but what about the lids (shampoo, detergent, soap, drinks, etc.)? Should I be taking the lids off?

We hate to sound like a broken record, but the answer to this generally depends on your individual program as well.

While most bottles are plastic #1 or #2, most of the bottle caps are polypropylene and cannot be recycled in the same process. Photo: Amanda Wills, Earth911.com

“Communities ask for this in different ways,” said Christman. “Sometimes they’re fine with lids off, and sometimes they won’t take them because the bottles are harder to compact [making baling them for sale more challenging].”

In the bottle report that the ACC conducts every year, Christman notes that the total amount of polypropylene (plastic #5, and a typical material for bottle caps) is recycled, a good portion of that coming from lids. “And that was more than 19 mililon pounds in 2007,” Christman added.

If you’re not sure about what to do with your lids, don’t despair. There are a number of companies and programs across the country that you can utilize.

1. Preserve Gimme 5
Preserve, a maker of household goods that utilize 100 percent recycled plastics and post-consumer paper, has partnered with Organic Valley and Stoneyfield Farms to recycle polypropylene. Simply drop off your containers at a designated Whole Foods location or mail them directly to Preserve, and they’ll become something new like a cutting board, cups or even a toothbrush.

2. Recycle Caps with Aveda
Aveda created its cap recycling program to ensure these little guys are not discarded on beaches or in water sources. Aveda accepts clean tops from shampoo, beverage and condiment bottles (such as ketchup and mayonnaise). Take your caps to any Aveda store, and the company will ship the caps to its own recyclers and use the material to make new caps for its hair and beauty products.

If you want to learn more about bottle caps, Earth911 breaks it down for you here.

5. How clean do my plastics have to be before recycling? An example is a microwave dinner tray, do I have to wash this completely clean?

It’s certainly helpful for the materials to be clean. To get them as reasonably clean as possible is a good thing, and it’s what most communities ask for, according to Christman. Lightly rinsing your plastics is a great idea if you’ve got sticky food waste as well, in order to reduce the chances that you’ll be smelling that old microwave meal a few days later.

The real issue with plastic cleanliness and recycling, though, has more to do with “flexible” plastics, like bags.

To make recycling effective for any material, you need to reduce the logistics costs, including keeping materials clean. In fact, keeping materials clean during recycling is one of the biggest challenges the industry faces, and one that consumes a great deal of resources. “When you have to clean up your plastics, you have to use a lot of water and energy,” notes Christman.

“Think about it this way: You could put a microwave tray or a bottle in your dishwasher, and you could wash it, and it would come clean. How would you do that with a plastic bag? It’s a flexible material, so it’s more problematic,” Christman said. (Editor’s note: This comparison has been used for illustrative purposes only. In no way are we advocating putting plastic bags or your old food trays in the dishwasher!)

This is another reason why dedicated bag and film drop-off points are so effective, as they reduce the probability that other materials will “sully” the more flexible plastics.

6. Sometimes plastics aren’t labeled with a code, like the bags that bed sheets come in or plastic forks. How can I recycle plastics like these?

Before going any further, check out some additional resources like our Ultimate Plastic Breakdown and the list of acceptable plastic bags and film from Question #2.

If you’re still unsure what to do with your plastics, it’s always best to leave them out of your recycling program in order to reduce the chances that you’ll contaminate the batch.

This is also another example of why staying up-to-date on what’s offered in your community is important, as many are starting to not restrict by resin code, but rather the type of plastic product, such as a rigid container or bottle.