How to Best Recycle Plastics

Most of what mankind has used for tools and structures throughout human existence has come from the earth and in time will go back into the earth. However, with the explosion of 20th century technology, we began developing non-biodegradable products, chiefly plastics. The birth of these interminable objects also brought with them a new sense of responsibility for caring for this planet unable to easily process such products. Unfortunately, that responsibility has gone largely ignored and cast aside for years as "tomorrow's problem". Thanks to recent years of global warming concerns and "green" policies, the day is finally arriving where people are beginning to accept the responsibility of their impact on this earth. Many plastics once thought to be unrecyclable are now able to be processed into forms that are recyclable and reusable.

Today, more than 60% of communities within the United States have recycling programs. Many of these are curbside pickups; however, some also provide facilities where plastics can be dropped off by the public. This means nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population (over 148 million people) has access to plastic recycling facilities. These community governments are taking many steps in order to make the recycling process accessible and easy in hopes to encourage the public to use these services.

The plastic industry itself has also done much to educate the public about recycling and offers single-digit symbol codes that are imprinted on all recyclable plastics. This code greatly helps consumers better to guide which bin at their recycling center each plastic should go into in order to better handle the recycling process. Not all plastics are easy or possible to recycle so this code system has greatly affected the efficiency of recycling centers.

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE) plastics are assigned the number 1. These are the most commonly recycled products like water and medicine bottles. High-Density Polyethylene plastics are assigned the number 2. Plastics in this category are also quite easy to recycle as they are basically just heavier versions of the number 1 plastics.

Polyvinyl Chloride plastics are given the number 3 and are much less commonly recycled than the first two numbers. Shower curtains and many rubber-like plastics fall into this category. Low-Density Polyethylene plastic is assigned the number 4. These are typically singled out negatively by the "Green" community for they include such items as plastic grocery bags and wrapping film. Other difficult plastics that are rarely accepted by recycling centers are Polypropylene plastics, such as Tupperware, which are assigned the number 5. Polystyrene (Styrofoam), however is very easily reprocessed and is given the number 6.

The hardest plastics to recycle are known as number 7. They are usually mixtures of the other numbers which make it very difficult, and usually not even attempted, to recycle.

With local communities, as well as the plastic industry itself, embracing ecological reform and providing education coupled with a simple number system, it has never been easier for the average consumer to make a positive impact on the environment through recycling their plastics.