Plastics

[Guest guest]

This was just posted on another group.

I'm sharing.

Pam

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http://www.valcorerecycling.org/affair/archives/2002-08-04.htm

Let's start with #1 PET which stands for Polyethylene terephthalate.

Soda bottles as well as some beer and liquor bottles are made from

PET along with a variety of other food bottles and trays. PET can be

melted and drawn out into long fibers and recycled into carpets,

fiberfill for jackets, and fabric for T-shirts and shopping bags

which unfortunately cannot be recycled. Manufacturers want recycled

PET and buy it. Coca Cola has finally started using a measly 3

percent recycled PET in their bottles. Be aware that local recyclers

only accept narrow-neck PET bottles. I have surmised over the years

that used PET food containers with sticky food scraps contaminate

the recycling machines. Milk and water jugs are made from number #2

HDPE or high-density polyethylene. Clear HDPE could easily be made

into new containers. The colored HDPE (liquid detergent, and shampoo

bottles) is generally recycled in plastic lumber. Those tough Tyvek

mailing envelopes and white contamination suits are also a form of

HDPE and are impossible to recycle. Vinyl or polyvinyl chloride (# 3

V) could be recycled. It is used for clear food packaging and

plumbing pipe. However, collecting it for recycling is cost-

prohibitive because there are not enough items made from the

material to warrant local factories to recycle it into new products.

They are generally used once and tossed. Low-density polyethylene (#

4 LDPE) is very flexible and made into bags for bread, frozen food,

and grocery. Some of these bags are recycled into new bags or

plastic lumber such as Trex. This plastic is lightweight and

trucking it back for recycling uses more energy than producing a

virgin product. Unless there is a recycling factory close by, most

LDPE ends up in the landfill. Consider using cloth shopping bags. My

husband and I have used the same bags for over eleven years.

Polypropylene (# 5 PP) is made into yogurt, margarine, and other

food containers. Like number 3 V, there are not enough containers

made from PP to justify collecting it and shipping it to a recycling

factory. In places where big industries use PP, there is enough

volume for it to be sold for recycling. Then there's #6 PS -

Polystyrene, the plastic that I would ban from the face of the

earth. Solid PS is made into compact disc jackets, eating utensils,

and take-out food containers. The expanded PS know as Styrofoam is

used for packing materials, coffee cups, meat trays, and egg

cartons. The cost of moving used Styrofoam is higher than making it

from virgin oil. Jax Place reported, " Foam recycling is a scam to

make you feel OK about buying it. Don't buy it; PS is buried in

landfills. " Styrofoam is always found in our local creeks and rivers

where birds and fish think it is food clogging up their digestive

tracks thus ending their lives. The last of the labeled plastics is

#7 OTHER. I echo Mr. Place's voice, " Don't buy this stuff unless you

want to keep it. It can't be sold or recycled. " Catsup bottles have

wavered between PET and OTHER over the last few years. Lids and

imported containers are likely to be made from mixed resins known as

OTHER.