Plastic 101
Plastic recycling affects a range of products, from drink containers to shopping bags to pipes. The use of plastic in the majority of our products makes recycling very important.
Curbside programs often make recycling plastic containers and products easy. While there may be some plastics that are not accepted in a curbside program, many of these materials are recyclable at a qualified center.
Check out Earth911’s recycling locator to find a location near you for plastics not accepted within your curbside program. Also, keep in mind that these items may be accepted at major retail locations across the country. For example, most major grocery stores across the U.S. now accept plastic bags for recycling in their stores.
To know the best way to recycle these products, it’s best to learn more about their life cycles, including what types of plastics are used for different products.
First, why are most plastics marked with a number inside a recycling symbol? The simple answer is that each number represents the type of resin made to produce the plastic. These numbers are plastic #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 and #7. Because each resin is different, these numbers affect how and where you can recycle plastics.
The chart below from the American Chemistry Council is a great place to start learning the basics about plastics. The different types are used depending on the product being manufactured. For example, PET and HDPE are the most common forms of plastic, so they are often the easiest types to find locations where they are accepted for recycling.
