| Image
|
Made of
|
Used in
|
Type1
|
PETE Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
|
Soda & water containers, some waterproof packaging.
|
Type2
|
HDPE High-Density Polyethylene.
|
Milk, detergent & oil bottles, Toys and plastic bags.
|
Type 3
|
V Vinyl/Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC).
|
Food wrap, vegetable oil bottles, blister packages.
|
Type 4
|
LDPE Low-Density Polyethylene.
|
plastic bags. Shrink wrap, garment bags.
|
Type 5
|
PP Polypropylene.
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Refrigerated containers, some bags, most bottle tops, some carpets, some food wrap.
|
Type 6
|
PS Polystyrene.
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Throwaway utensils, meat packing, protective packing.
|
Type 7
|
Others.
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Layered or mixed plastic.
|
These symbols are meant to indicate the type of plastic, not its recyclability.
- Types 1 and 2 are commonly recycled.
- Type 4 is less commonly recycled.
- Type 7 No recycling potential.Must be landfilled.
- The other types are generally not recycled, except perhaps in small test programs.
- Common plastics polycarbonate (PC) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) do not have recycling numbers.
- Plastics 3, 6, and 7 probably contain BPA and should not be used to store anything that will be consumed by humans
Page data
| Authors |
Doaa Balfakih, Lonny Grafman |
| License |
CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
| Language |
English (en) |
| Related |
0 subpages, 4 pages link here |
| Redirects |
Codes |
| Views |
147 page views (analytics) |
| Created |
April 7, 2008 by Doaa Balfakih |
| Last edit |
May 30, 2026 by Irene Delgado |
| Cite as |
Doaa Balfakih, Lonny Grafman (2008–2026). "Plastic codes". Appropedia. Retrieved November 12, 2026. |
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