Always check with your local municipality to confirm that a plastic material can be recycled in your community. Download the full infographic here.
Recycled polyethylene terephthalate is known as RPET and the most widely recycled plastic in the world. A hard plastic not as transparent PET that is often used for household cleaners, shampoo bottles, and yogurt containers. 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.
It is the primary base plastic in a variety of piping, paneling, decking, fencing, and bottles. PVC products have an average lifetime of 30 years, with some reaching 50 or more years. As a result, PVC requires separation from other plastics for recycling. A soft flexible plastic that is often used as: bread bags, frozen food bags, and plastic shopping bags. In addition, clear films should be separated from coloured or printed film.
Film that is not separated can affect its value. The recycling process involves 5 steps: collection, sorting, cleaning, reprocessing by melting, and producing new products from recycled PP. Commonly found as single-use coffee cups and take-out food containers, and trademarked as Styrofoam.
Challenging and expensive because it is low density and on average 98 per cent air. How to recycle it: PET or PETE can be picked up through most curbside recycling programs as long as it's been emptied and rinsed of any food.
There's no need to remove bottle labels because the recycling process separates them. Recycled into: Polar fleece, fiber, tote bags, furniture, carpet, paneling, straps, bottles and food containers as long as the plastic being recycled meets purity standards and doesn't have hazardous contaminants. HDPE high density polyethylene is a versatile plastic with many uses, especially when it comes to packaging. It carries low risk of leaching and is readily recyclable into many types of goods.
Found in: Milk jugs; juice bottles; bleach, detergent, and other household cleaner bottles; shampoo bottles; some trash and shopping bags; motor oil bottles; butter and yogurt tubs; cereal box liners.
How to recycle it: HDPE can often be picked up through most curbside recycling programs, although some allow only containers with necks. Flimsy plastics like grocery bags and plastic wrap usually can't be recycled, but some stores will collect and recycle them.
Recycled into: Laundry detergent bottles, oil bottles, pens, recycling containers, floor tile, drainage pipe, lumber, benches, doghouses, picnic tables, fencing, shampoo bottles. PVC polyvinyl chloride and V vinyl is tough and weathers well, so it's commonly used for things like piping and siding.
PVC is also cheap, so it's found in plenty of products and packaging. Because chlorine is part of PVC, it can result in the release of highly dangerous dioxins during manufacturing. Remember to never burn PVC, because it releases toxins. Found in: Shampoo and cooking oil bottles, blister packaging, wire jacketing, siding, windows, piping.
How to recycle it: PVC and V can rarely be recycled, but it's accepted by some plastic lumber makers. If you need to dispose of either material, ask your local waste management to see if you should put it in the trash or drop it off at a collection center. Recycled into: Decks, paneling, mud-flaps, roadway gutters, flooring, cables, speed bumps, mats.
LDPE low density polyethylene is a flexible plastic with many applications. Historically, it hasn't been accepted through most American recycling programs, but more and more communities are starting to accept it.
Found in: Squeezable bottles; bread, frozen food, dry cleaning, and shopping bags; tote bags; furniture. How to recycle it: LDPE is not often recycled through curbside programs, but some communities might accept it. That means anything made with LDPE like toothpaste tubes can be thrown in the trash. Just like we mentioned under HDPE, plastic shopping bags can often be returned to stores for recycling. Recycled into: Trash can liners and cans, compost bins, shipping envelopes, paneling, lumber, landscaping ties, floor tile.
PP polypropylene has a high melting point, so it's often chosen for containers that will hold hot liquid. It's gradually becoming more accepted by recyclers. This coding refers to high density polyethylene, or HDPE.
This plastic forms milk jugs, laundry detergent bottles, butter tubs, motor oil bottles, and some shopping bags. PVC also appears in cooking oil and shampoo bottles, medical tubing, wire jacketing, and window cleaner spray bottles. That means shrink wrap, as well as bags — dry cleaning, grocery, bread, frozen food, and produce bags all qualify.
Polypropylene, or PP, has a high melting point that makes it great for containing hot liquids. Polystyrene PS is an incredibly versatile plastic. It can be manipulated into a soft foam, like packing peanuts, or hardened into a sturdy CD case.
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