Insider Information on Recycling Plastic and No. 6

After all these years of of recycling, people still have questions. And it's not surprising because what can be recycled continues to change.


Mary Allen is the Recycling and Education Director of SWANCC (Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County), and she gave a presentation at a Green Drinks in Chicagoland that helped shed some light on what plastics can be recycled and why.

What plastic can be recycled?
In just the last few years the types of plastic that can be recycled has increased. You can now recycle hard plastics like yogurt and sour cream containers (#5). In some places you can even recycle juice boxes and waxy cardboard juice containers.

In the last year recycling facilities have accepted plastic bottle caps, even if they don't have a recycling symbol on them. And the word is, put them on the bottle, don't separate them. Somehow this makes it easier to keep track and separate them at the facility.

Now this can vary from facility to facility, so the thing to do is contact your municipality to get a current list and make sure that what you are putting into your recycling bin is actually getting recycled.

How do we decide what can be recycled?
This is a question of what the market will bare. The majority of our plastic recycling is purchased by China or other Asian countries. The cost of collecting, transporting and separating factors into whether or not it is financial feasible to recycle a product. But in the end, if no one is buying it, your recycling facility won't take it. Or will it? Keep reading!

What's up with No. 6 Plastic?
No. 6 is Polystyrene and styrofoam falls into this category. At some point in the past, there was a market for this product. It is possible to recycle it. Currently no one is buying it. Sometimes recycling facilities will continue to take a product regardless of whether or not they can recycle it because if the market fluctuates enough, it is easier to keep people in the habit of recycling than stopping and starting over and over.
What happens to products collected for recycling when no one's buying? Basically they just go into the landfill.

In the end, if the recyclability of a product is questionable think about replacing it with something you know can be recycled or look for another way to get what you need without the waste. For example, bring your own reusable water bottle (BPA free of course) instead of continually buying plastic water bottles.
Reducing our waste is important for all life on earth. Consider the fact that every person in the U.S. creates about 4.4 pounds of municipal waste a day and that there are approxiamtely 307 million people in the United States. It's a lot of waste so lets take care of it!

Alexandra Gnoske is an Environmental Expert and the Author/Illustrator of "Loui Saves the Earth."
First published on Greenwala.com