Visual Guide to Recycling Plastics #1 thru #7
Posted by Chad Norman February 12th, 2008 .Most recycling programs only accept plastics #1 and #2, so being able to quickly identify them can be a time saver when sorting your recycling. In the future, we should be able to recycle plastics #3 through #7 — but for now these outcasts must be banished to the landfill (that’s too bad, because a lot of stuff is made from plastic #5).
Last summer, I set aside a sampling of the plastic items that came through our family of four’s home. Below is a photo guide to what I found — click each image to learn more about that plastic.
9 Responses to “Visual Guide to Recycling Plastics #1 thru #7”
- 1 Trackback on Feb 15th, 2008 at 9:30 am
- 2 Pingback on Feb 17th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
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So, the Lid to our sour cream (borden maybe?) container is a #2 plastic, but the container itself is a #5 plastic….what is up with that???
Aaaagh! It’s all our trash!
You guys should turn this into a handy one page recycling guide I can put on my fridge. That would be incredibly useful for people who don’t know the difference between these…like me. If you do that, please email and let me know.
Dan, I believe there is something close to a 1 page recycling guide on the charleston county recycling webpage…I will try to find it…my wife and I had that very same discussion last night….she would recycle more if she knew exactly what she could recycle….
Here is the list from the Charleston County Website
http://www.charlestoncounty.org/index2.asp?p=/departments/solidwaste/D-RecyMatrls.htm
Items NOT Recycled
Drinking glasses
Hazardous Materials containers
Plastic bags - please take these back to the grocery store
Plastic or wire hangers
Pots and pans
Styrofoam - packaging, peanuts
Items to be placed in Blue Bins for pick-up
#1 and #2 plastic bottles rinsed with lids off
(these numbers can be found on the bottom of most containers)
Motor oil bottles (unrinsed with lids on)
Aerosol cans
Aluminum cans
Glass bottles and jars
Steel food cans
Items to be placed in Brown Paper Bags for pick-up
Junk mail
Magazines
Newspaper
Office paper
Paperboard packaging containers
Other Recyclable Items that must be taken to Drop-Site Locations
Cardboard
Used motor oil and filters
Electronic waste, i.e. computers
Textiles (clothing)
Tires
Yard Waste
Car batteries, battery acid and NiCad batteries
Scrap metal and appliances (refrigerator doors removed)
Paint
Household Hazardous Materials
Compact Florescent Light Bulbs
Fluorescent tubes (unbroken)
Used cooking oil
Old gasoline and two-stroke mix
Antifreeze
Propane tanks (emptied with valves removed)
Dan - that’s a great idea, and has been on our list for quite some time. We are going to be making several one-page “local guides” for exactly what you said: easy display and quick reference.
It would be better if all the plastic items are recycled irrespective of the number. since these plastic items cannot be disposed in fire and has a very long life before it degenerate it is better to recycle all the types of plastic.