Look under the plastic you are holding and find a triangular shaped recycling symbol. You will see a number inside the symbol either 1,2,3,4,5,6, or 7. The number isn’t there for aesthetic reasons, it is a code that tells us what kind of plastic the product is made of and how to recycle it.
Understanding these numbers helps us make informed decisions on segregating and recycling the product.
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
Picture taken by me
This is the major type of plastic we collect and recycle in my recycling facility, and it carries the number 1 sign. It is majorly your water bottles and soda bottles. It is highly recyclable, and you sort them according to colour, remove the labels, remove the caps before baling or crushing them. This year alone, we have recycled 495,980 Kg of PET bottles which is approximately 24,799,000 pieces of water bottles.
High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
Source
These are majorly containers for milk and body lotions. It is also easily recyclable and it carries the number 2 sign. The recycled HDPE bottle can be made into new container or as plastic lumber to create tables and chairs.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
These are your used pipes or credit cards. They carry the number 3 sign and are difficult to recycle due to the chlorine content. We reuse them instead of recycling or incinerating them due to their toxic fumes.
I believe you now understand why pipes smell funny when you burn them during plumbing works.
Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
These are your plastic bags, shrink wraps, film wraps and squeezable bottles. It is also recyclable and carries the number 4 sign.
Polypropylene (PP)
Picture taken by me
I made mention of removing caps during sorting of PET bottles. This is because caps are Polypropylene. They are also recyclable and carry the number 5 sign. They are often recycled into pallets, car parts, packaging materials, and lumbers.
It is another source of income because you get them free from the PET bottles and can sell them.
Polystyrene or Styrofoam (PS)
This is hard to recycle and have been banned in Lagos state, Nigeria. They are disposable cups, single use takeaway plastics and the likes. The number 6 sign indicates the plastic is Polystyrene.
Mixed Plastics or Bioplastics
They are mixed plastics with the number 7 and difficult to recycle due to their mixed composition. Some are compostable such as polylactic acid plastic (PLA) while some are not recyclable atall. Some DVDs, acrylics, polycarbonate, nylon, and sunglasses are example of code 7 plastics.
The best way to recycle and get higher value for your recyclables is by segregating from source. Knowing these codes let everyone sort from source thereby reducing contamination. We can have food grade materials like that.