Plastics Recycling Chart: Can You Recycle That?
What do those number symbols on plastic bottles and containers mean? (And why are they so small?!) Find out which plastics are safe, which may leak chemicals, and how to recycle plastic with this Plastics Identification Chart.
Interestingly, the number of symbols inside the triangles on plastic bottles and containers was not meant to help us identify which ones to recycle. The Society of Plastics Industry, now known as the Plastics Industry Association, started this number system to identify the plastic resin content. Maybe that’s why the numbers are so hard to see!
It gets more complicated because every local recycling facility collects different types of plastics, and you need to contact your recycling center to know which plastics get collected.
Bottom-line, there are seven types of plastics. Generally, most recyclers accept plastics #1 and #2. Plastics #3 to #6 are more difficult to recycle, and some recycling centers do not process them. Plastic #7 is even more challenging to recycle and is almost always excluded.
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Plastics Identification and Recycling Chart
Here are the seven standard classifications for plastics and the recycling and reuse information for each type.
In your quest to go green, use this guide to use and sort plastic. The number, usually found with a triangle symbol on a container, indicates the type of resin used to produce the plastic. Visit EARTH911.COM for recycling information in your state.
 | NUMBER 1 • PETE or PET (polyethylene terephthalate) IS USED IN: microwavable food trays; salad dressing, soft drink, water, and juice bottles STATUS: hard to clean; absorbs bacteria and flavors; avoid reusing IS RECYCLED TO MAKE: carpet, furniture, new containers, Polar fleece |
 | NUMBER 2 • HDPE (high-density polyethylene) IS USED IN: household cleaner and shampoo bottles, milk jugs, yogurt tubs STATUS: transmits no known chemicals into food IS RECYCLED TO MAKE: detergent bottles, fencing, floor tiles, pens |
 | NUMBER 3 • V or PVC (vinyl) IS USED IN: cooking oil bottles, clear food packaging, mouthwash, bottles STATUS: is believed to contain phthalates that interfere with hormonal development; avoid IS RECYCLED TO MAKE: cables, mudflaps, paneling, roadway gutters |
 | NUMBER 4 • LDPE (low-density polyethylene) IS USED IN: bread and shopping bags, carpet, clothing, furniture STATUS: transmits no known chemicals into food IS RECYCLED TO MAKE: envelopes, floor tiles, lumber, trash-can liners |
 | NUMBER 5 • PP (polypropylene) IS USED IN: ketchup bottles, medicine and syrup bottles, drinking straws STATUS: transmits no known chemicals into food IS RECYCLED TO MAKE: battery cables, brooms, ice scrapers, rakes |
 | NUMBER 6 • PS (polystyrene) IS USED IN: disposable cups and plates, egg cartons, take-out containers STATUS: is believed to leach styrene, a possible human carcinogen, into food; avoid IS RECYCLED TO MAKE: foam packaging, insulation, light switchplates, rulers |
 | NUMBER 7 • Other (miscellaneous) IS USED IN: 3- and 5-gallon water jugs, nylon, some food containers STATUS: contains bisphenol A, which has been linked to heart disease and obesity; avoid IS RECYCLED TO MAKE: custom-made products |
Did that chart make your eyes glaze over? To help, here is more information about the different types of plastics so you can better understand which ones are safe and which are toxic for food and drink consumption.
#1: PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)
Water bottles and plastic soda bottles are the most common containers made out of PET. It’s OK to recycle.
However, avoid reusing plastic containers made of PET. Why? PET is meant for single-use applications; repeated use increases the risk of leaching and bacterial growth. Plus, it’s hard to clean or remove harmful chemicals. PET may leach carcinogens.
#2: HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene)
Most milk jugs, detergent containers, and oil bottles are made from HDPE. It’s a very common plastic and one of the safest to use. It’s also fully recyclable.
#3: PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)
PVC is used for plastic food wrapping because it’s soft and flexible. Most consumer recyclers will not take PVC products. Also, avoid reusing PVC products, especially when it comes to food or for children’s use. They contain toxins that leach throughout their entire life cycle.
#4: LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene)
LDPE is usually what plastic bags are made from. You’ll also find LDPE in shrink wraps, dry cleaner garment bags, and other items.
Though most plastic bags are not recyclable, some companies and recycling centers have found alternatives or are investigating how to recycle plastic bags, given their harmfulness to the environment.
LDPE is reusable and safe to repurpose.
#5: PP (Polypropylene)
Polypropylene plastic is used in margarine and yogurt containers, potato chip bags, cereal bags, and more.
Polypropylene is recyclable, although many recyclers still don’t accept it. PP is considered safe for reuse.
#6: PS (Polystyrene)
Avoid polystyrene as best as possible. It’s used for disposable styrofoam drinking cups, take-out containers, packing peanuts, and more.
Polystyrene is not generally recyclable and accounts for about 35% of US landfill material. Because it breaks apart so easily, it’s often found inside marine animals’ stomachs and littering our beaches.
Avoid reusing polystyrene. Polystyrene’s chemical compounds have been linked with human health and reproductive system dysfunction. Polystyrene may leach styrene, a possible human carcinogen, into food products (especially when heated in a microwave).
#7: Polycarbonate, BPA, and Other Plastics
Assume that nothing with the #7 number can be recycled or reused. BPA can leak chemicals. It’s an xenoestrogen, a known endocrine disruptor.
We hope this article has helped introduce the different types of plastics. It’s undoubtedly a little more complicated than it needs to be!
Consider this last question: A kid buys a plastic beverage bottle. It’s tossed in the trash and buried in a landfill, where decomposing will take over 400 years. However, if that beverage bottle is recycled, it can be transformed back into the same plastic pellets used to make it in the first place.
Yes, recycling still takes some energy, but this bottle’s life is not over, and it is part of a “cycle” in which natural resources do not go to waste. Before you toss something in the trash, ask yourself: “Is this really garbage?”
Are you interested in using less plastic? Learn ways to garden with less plastic.
Catherine Boeckmann
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Thank you for this article! Recent peer reviewed studies have shown humans have 50% more plastic particles in on brains than we did in 2016. We have plastic, with their associated chemicals, in our lungs and elsewhere in our bodies. My kitchen is plastic free - until I bring home groceries. Although I buy in glass or metal as much as possible, many necessary food items are still packaged in plastic (even organic foods!). When we wear some types of synthetic clothing, we are further poisoning our bodies and our immediate environment. Our government knows these things yet refuses to insist on safe alternatives.
All plastics can be recycled.!!!’
By a process called pyrolization
where the plastics are heated in a closed environment (ie oxygen free so they don’t burn) See:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolysis
This works for any organic material, so food waste does not need cleaning off the plastic, in fact the process can be used for garden waste too!!!’ )
The process reduces, and produces the material back to basic ingredients, that can be used to produce new plastic’s, for fuel and all the other things that are
derived from other hydrocarbons, that would otherwise be produced by the oil or gas industries!!’
It is a process that needs development, and used more widely in the recycling
industry, today, and for the future of our children, to reduce landfills that harm the environment.!!!’ ຈل͜ຈ
More reasons to make and use hemp containers. Biodegradable and sustainable. I’m left with a bunch of 5pp because nobody will take them for recycle. Recycling industry can’t keep up with all the different plastics being made, but they keep on making them out of our precious resources
seconding this ✌🏼😀
One way to save millions of tons of PET is to boycott bottled water!
Here in Germany tap water is absolutely safe to drink (it's the most closely controlled foodstuff, constantly checked for pollutants). Despite this, 10 billion litres of bottled mineral water (which is less stringently controlled) are sold each year, not counting soft drinks like cola! These bottles of water are then transported over long distances - a huge waste of energy and source of CO².
Buy a reusable stainless steel bottle and drink tapwater. You also save a LOT of money!! The cheapest mineralwater in the supermarket cost 90 time more than tapwater!
Glass is by far the best material for containing food, it is non contaminating and eminently recyclable!!!!
But unfortunately it is very heavy especially when compared with plastics, this adds greatly to the cost of transport, and the fuel pollution resulting from that!!!’ Also where as in the past, glass was almost all recycled, and reused, a small redeemable cost being added at purchase, that has now ceased, so sad, as a kids we used to hunt down any
bottle with a deposit to redeem pocket change!!!’ Happy days!!’ ຈل͜ຈ
.
its hard not to use it but i started buying bottled water,mayo ,mustard etc in glass containers.Its just me but its a start.I wont buy anything in styrofoam .Its very hard to avoid plastics plus its made from petroleum
Can you recycle any of the materials listed above if they are used for food. I heard that if it has food “waste” on it like some form of plastic bowl/plate it is not recyclable, it is considered contaminated and thrown in land fill. Also, what goes into a compost collection pile? I do believe many cities are collecting sorted materials. But, because it’s a complicated and costly process, many cities aren’t paying a sorting facilities to pull out the materials that can be recycled or reused. I have shared this article with my family and friends. I will print and hang a copy for easy reference in my recycling area. Thank you for very thorough and helpful information and advice that we can use daily. I read the Almanac every day and I am really impressed by your publication. Julie, a long time Almanac fan.
I reiterate my commitment above as I think this process should be
encouraged!!!’
All plastics can be recycled.!!!’
By a process called pyrolization
where the plastics are heated in a closed environment (ie oxygen free so they don’t burn!!’)
See:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolysis
This works for any organic material, so food waste does not need cleaning off the plastic, in fact the process can be used for garden waste etc too!!!’ )
The process reduces/produces the
material back to basic ingredients, that can be used to produce new plastic’s, for fuel and all the other things that are derived from other hydrocarbons, that would otherwise be produced from the oil or gas industries!!’
It is a process that needs development, and used more widely in the recycling industry, today, and for the future of our children, to reduce landfills that harm the environment.!!!’ ຈل͜ຈ
.
Thank you David
Hope some day we will be able to recycle all plastics but hope even more that we will be able to rid ourselves of the scourge of plastic products that use fossil fuels, even ones recycled. Exxon just built a HUGE plastic plant in Beaver County PA. In the meantime our landfills continue to grow, our streams, rivers and oceans are being marjorly polluted and the air we breathe impacted by dangerous chemicals thru incineration of plastic products. Buy glass containers and bring your reusable bags wherever you shop.
