Recycling Plastic Bottles
Although many plastic beverage bottles can be returned for deposits, recycling plastic through the curbside collection program is one of the most important things we can do. Follow these guidelines for determining what to recycle, how to prepare it, and what to put in your regular trash.
Preparation
Rinse containers, remove and discard tops, and place loose in the blue recycling bins. Labels do not need to be removed.
What to recycle
Many plastic materials are labeled with a symbol showing what kind of plastic it is. Follow the table below to determine whether or not to include an item in your curbside recycling.
|
Symbol
|
Description |
|---|---|
 |
RECYCLE - Soft drink bottles, water bottles, beer bottles, mouthwash bottles, peanut butter containers, salad dressing containers, juice bottles, vegetable oil bottles |
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RECYCLE - Milk containers, juice bottles, water bottles, bleach, detergent, and shampoo bottles, trash bags, grocery and retail carrying bags, motor oil bottles, butter and margarine tubs, household cleaner bottles, and cereal box liners |
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DON'T RECYCLE- Vinyl used in some cleaning products, food containers and proudct packaging. Also wire and cable jacketing, medical tubing, and some building materials, particularly siding, piping, and windows. |
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DON'T RECYCLE - Squeezable bottles, breadbags, frozen food bags, tote bags, clothing, furniture, dry cleaning bags, and carpet |
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DON'T RECYCLE - Yogurt containers, syrup bottles, ketchup bottles, caps, straws, medicine bottles |
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DON'T RECYCLE - Plates, cups, cutlery, meat trays, egg cartons, carry-out containers, aspirin bottles, compact disc jackets |
 |
DON'T RECYCLE - Three and five gallon water bottles, certain food product bottles |
Fast Facts
Some interesting tidbits about plastic recycling courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency:
- We use about 32 billion pounds of plastic a year, but recycle only about 2% of it!
- Americans go through 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.
- Recycled plastic can be made into many new products from detergent containers to park benches.
- Because much plastic is made from petroleum, recycling saves money and conserves a valuable resource.
- 56% of recycled PET finds a market in the manufacture of fiber (carpet and clothing). Half of all polyester carpet manufactured in the US is made from recycled soda bottles.
- Other large markets for recycled PET are for strapping (13%) and new containers (14% -food and non-food).
- 29% of recycled HDPE bottles go into making new bottles.
- The plastic pipe industry consumes 18% of the recycled HDPE.
- Other strong markets for HDPE are for lawn and garden products (such as edging), plastic lumber (decks, benches, picnic tables), film and sheet, and a variety of injection molding products (buckets, crates and automobile parts).
- Most of the PET soda bottles recycled in the U.S. are recovered through container deposit systems or bottle bills in ten states (CA, CT, IA, OR, ME, MA, MI, NY, VT and DE).
