![recycle sign recycle sign](https://dhjhk3vqgtuhy.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/optimized/0/9/0917ca918eea8e79cac490c22c1cbb42/recyclable_sign_-_recycling_bin_-_a5.jpg)
![recycle sign recycle sign](https://d2w7xwfmzvfomw.cloudfront.net/images/suppliers/ttn/tf456recyclesymbolstocktattoo-l.jpg)
Most experts agree that you should stay away from #3 PVC (often found in pipes) and #6 PS (Styrofoam, often used as food/drink containers).Ģ. While its use is also associated with public hygiene and preventing bacteria contamination (many Taiwanese, for example, use plastic straws to drink everything from beer to milk out of fear of a contaminated supply chain), consumers should be wary of chemicals leaching into food or drink products.Īccording to the Science History Institute, “urrent health concerns focus on additives (such as bisphenol A and a class of chemicals called phthalates) that go into plastics during the manufacturing process, making them more flexible, durable, and transparent.”
![recycle sign recycle sign](http://www.clipartbest.com/cliparts/eiM/7g7/eiM7g7KLT.png)
HEALTH EFFECTS: plastic has been linked to disrupting hormonal growth and carcinogens. (As a consumer, you can’t tell the difference.)ġ. It includes non-recyclables and corn-based plastics (PLA). #1 (PET), ex: water bottles - highest recycling value keep out of the sun to prevent toxins leaking into the container (no bueno for your health).Plastics are classified into 7 categories according to Resin Identification Codes (RIC). They are differentiated by the temperature at which the material has been heated, and their numerical classification (#1 – #7) only informs you what type of plastic it is. Just because IT has the recycling sign doesn’t mean it ACTUALLY gets recycled. Subsidies, investments and public support go a long way. While the price of purchasing a new piece of plastic is far cheaper than paying someone’s salary to manage and sort recyclables, the environmental cost is substantially greater. Public investment in recycling systems, moreover, is integral to their long-term sustainability and success. Before you throw something away, check what your city actually recycles. Government regulations create market opportunities for companies to recycle legally-mandated products. Your local government also plays an essential role. If the demand isn’t there, or the quality of the materials post-use is incurably dirty, they end up in landfill or incinerators. Tweet this If there’s a demand in the market, then recyclers and companies will pay for your post-consumer recyclables.īut without a market demand, those recyclables are almost useless placing them in the recycling bin won’t make a difference if you can’t make money off of them. “Recycling” is determined by two really important things: the marketand city government. Keyboards– maybe, if you get it to the right person. NOT ALL PLASTIC IS RECYCLABLE.Ĭoffee Cups– you need a special machine without it, no. I’ve spent the last five months talking to various experts in Taiwan, one of the world’s innovators in recycling systems AND major producers of plastics, to put together this list. My hope is to bring more transparency to a system inseparable from our very existence, but whose visibility often starts and stops at the trash can.ħ infographics correspond to the 7 classifications of plastics and debunk common (mis)assumptions about plastics & recycling. Recycled goods have to compete with new products in the market who wants to buy something of lower quality? We consumers play a much more critical role than we might imagine– depending on how we use our products and in what shape we throw them away, determines their value and quality post-use. It’s a system dictated by market demand, price determinations, local regulations, the success of which is contingent upon everyone, from the product-designer, to the trash-thrower, to the waste collector, to the recycling factory worker. Similarly, our faith in the magic of the recycling bin makes purchasing and using plastic products a little more guilt-free.īut recycling is a lot more complicated, and the process of recycling plastics is significantly less transparent than the much-Googled recipe for baking cookies.
![recycle sign recycle sign](https://1000logos.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Color-Recycle-Logo.jpg)
It’s like eating only half of a chocolate chip cookie– we indulge, but not that much. The simple act of throwing something away into a large box marked with a recycling sign is enough to make some of us feel like we’ve done our part. For many, environmentalism begins with the recycling symbol and ends at the recycling bin.