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Recycle- Plastics

Recycle- Plastics

What are Plastics?
Plastic is a synthetic material that is made from natural gas and oil. We use plastic in some form in our everyday life. A good majority of a household’s garbage is made up of plastics.

There are many different types of plastics. For example, a soda bottle is made from Polyethylene Terephthalate, or called PET or Code 1. These codes can be found by looking at the number in the chasing arrow recycle symbol. Milk jugs are made from High Density Polyethylene, or called HDPE or Code 2. These two types are the most commonly recycled plastics used to make new products.

All plastics should be marked with a code. Even though plastics are marked doesn't mean they can be recycled. Below is a list of what the code are and what they mean.

PETE	Polyethylene Terephalate Ethylene PETE goes into soft drink, juice, water, detergent, and cleaner bottles. Also used for cooking and peanut butter jars.
HDPE	High Density Polyethylene High Density Polyethylene HDPE goes into milk and water jugs, bleach bottles, detergent and shampoo. Plastic bags and grocery sacks, motor oil bottles, household cleaners and butter tubs.
PVC	Polyvinyl Chloride PVC goes into window cleaner, cooking oils, and detergent bottles. Also used for peanut butter jars and water jugs.
LDPE	Low Density Polyethylene LDPE goes into plastic bags and grocery sacks, dry cleaning bags and flexible film packaging. Also used for some types of bottles.
PP	Polypropylene PP goes into soda caps, syrup bottles, yogurt tubs, straws and film packaging.
PS	Polystyrene PS goes into meat trays, egg cartons, plates, cutlery, carry-out containers and clear trays.
OTHER	Other Includes resins not mentioned above or combinations of plastics.

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