Recycling is a topic that is known by many. Yet most, including myself at one point, have been misinformed about the details of it. We all know it's better to throw a piece of paper into the recycling bin rather than the trash, but what about Styrofoam boxes or plastic teething rings? There is so much more to recycling that is not normally taught, and this lack of information creates a problem in our environment. If products that can be recycled aren't, it ends up as useless waste that further pollutes our Earth. Even if we put materials that are not supposed to be recycled into the recycling, it still has an effect. This garbage has to be sorted out of the recycling, resulting in time that could be spent converting recyclable materials being used for sorting this trash out. So how exactly can we improve our recycling habits?
The Recycling Sign and Its Significance
We have all seen the famous recycling sign. A triangle made up of arrows each pointing to each other that is generally taken as a sure-fire sign that the material it is printed on is recyclable. However, not all plastics marked with the sign are recyclable. Each of the recycling signs found on plastic materials encompass a number that is between 1 and 7. These numbers are only found on plastic, and they each have their own significance as to whether the product can be recycled or not, and often go overlooked. Here are the 7:
(All information used for these plastics comes from eartheasy.com, check them out!) 1: PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)
Most commonly used plastic, found in water and soda bottles.
Can be recycled but not re-used due to risk of bacterial growth through repeated use.
2: HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene)
Used in milk jugs, detergent and oil bottles, many toys and a few different types of plastic bags.
Can be both recycled and re-used (re-using is always preferable from an environmental standpoint).
3: PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Used in plastic food wrapping, cooking oil bottles, most teething rings for children, and toys for both pets and kids.
Not recyclable. Do not re-use for food, as if it is used for too long some toxins from this plastic can leach into food.
4: LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene)
Used in many dry cleaner clothe bags, shrink wraps, squeezable bottles, plastic bags for bread, and most other plastic bags used in grocery stores.
Not normally recyclable, but highly re-usable.
I recommend that if you must use plastic bags from a grocery store, save them in a closet and bring them with you the next time you go shopping or need to easily store something.
5: PP (Polypropylene)
Used for the plastic liner in cereal boxes, disposable diapers, pails, plastic bottle tops, some yogurt containers, potato chip bags, packing tape, and straws.
Can be re-used, but only recycled in some areas. You can check your local recycling program for more info.
In many cases, popular brands of drink such as Gatorade™ will have recyclable bottles but non-recyclable caps. Be on the lookout for that.
6: PS (Polysterene)
Used to make Styrofoam drinking cups, Styrofoam food containers, plastic forks, knives, spoons, foam packaging and packaging peanuts.
Non-recyclable in most areas, and in most cases cannot be re-used due to toxin leaching problems. However, plastic cutlery can be washed and re-used to save plastic. You should avoid this plastic whenever possible.
7: Other Plastics (Polycarbonate, BPA, and LEXAN)
General category for plastics. Used in baby bottles/sippy cups, water cooler bottles, and some car parts.
If a product has the letters PC next to the recycling symbol, it is not recyclable or re-usable.
If a product has the letters PLA next to the symbol, it can be composted, but not recycled.
Essentially, when looking to recycle a product, if that product has the number 1, 2, 5, or 7 it can be recycled in many cases. However, it is important that, before recycling any product you are unsure about, to check with your town recycling plan to see which of these products can be recycled. For instance, one town may take all plastics except 6, while another may only accept plastic #1. By paying strict attention to which numbers are on products you use, it can make recycling more efficient and have more of an impact.
Metals, Glass, Cardboard, and Paper
Of course, there are more materials besides plastic that can be recycled, such as the above-mentioned materials. Many towns have their own rules and regulations, however there are some general rules that you can follow to give you the best chance of making recycling more efficient.
Metals: Items such as steel or tin cans, aluminum pie plates/trays, and beverage cans can all be recycled. It is best to make sure that these items are rinsed clean before they are recycled, and it is acceptable to leave the labels on. Do not recycle aluminum foil, paint cans, aerosol cans, coat hangers, or metal cookware.
Glass: Items such as green, brown, and clear glass beverage containers can be recycled. Like metal, you should wash these items clean, and it is fine to leave the collar, neck rings and labels on. Do not recycle broken glass, mirrors, ceramics, drinking glasses, light bulbs, or windows.
Cardboard: Any items made of cardboard (mostly boxes) can be recycled. You should breakdown and flatten these boxes, then tie or tape them together for easy transport. Do not recycle any Styrofoam packaging found with cardboard boxes.
Paper: Newspapers, magazines/catalogs, mail, envelopes, books, paper bags, computer paper, and paper beverage cartons can be recycled. You should tie any paper you have together and put them in paper bags to be recycled, as this ensures you have to take nothing back. Make sure to take the covers off of any book you recycle before recycling.
Conclusion
By using these guidelines, you are well on your way to developing a more efficient and helpful way of recycling. However, there is still so much that one can know about recycling that could not be discussed in this post due to length. If you would like to learn even more about how you can recycle better, make sure to check out the links I have provided below, and look to my next post as I will be talking about even more methods and tactics you can use to make your recycling strategy more productive.
Thanks for reading!
All credit for information used in this post goes to:
https://www.westfordma.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/2931
http://www.wm.com/thinkgreen/what-can-i-recycle.jsp
http://learn.eartheasy.com/2012/05/plastics-by-the-numbers/
Images:
http://www.masterrecycler.org/
https://farmsandfields.wordpress.com/author/elenavt/
https://www.lakelandgov.net/publicworks/solid-waste/commercial/commercial-recycling
http://www.talaconsult.com/metals-highlights-june-2014/
https://recycling.ncsu.edu/what-to-do-with/cardboard/
http://www.kdnuggets.com/2016/11/tunkelang-recycle-data.html
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