Basically I ask this because it seems rather strange to me that when recycling plastic bottles and containers I have to throw away the corresponding lids that in many cases are marked with exactly the same ‘recyclable’ logo that the bottles carry. Surely they should take any manageable plastic objects that are marked as recyclable?
2007-02-15 02:43:27 · 19 answers · asked by cobrabarmc 1 in Environment
When you recycle plastics you have to put like plastics together. There is a triangular figure wirh a number in it that indicates the type of plastic that you are recycling. Usually the lids are made out of a sturdier/different type of plastic and should not be recycled with the bottle.
2007-02-15 03:19:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
The lids are often made of a different plastic polymer to the bottle and therefore possibly not recyclable. The sybols are often the smae but it is the number within it that refers to the plastic polymer.
Many councils only collect the bottles as they are all recycleable but often nothing else even if it is the same polymer. I guess this is to stop confusion and people putting all plastics in. If this happenes then the whole load may be landfilled due to high contamination as it wont be possible to recycle it. This would mean everyones good efforts would go to waste!
2007-02-15 20:51:48 · answer #2 · answered by Carrot 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's a number from 1 to 7 inside the triangle, and often a letter abbreviation for the type of plastic. 1 & 2 are the most commonly recycled, but the caps are made of another plastic they aren't set up to recycle. Don't include them with your recyclables because they must be separated and thrown out before the plastic is reprocessed. Here's the list of resin codes:
http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/bin.asp?CID=1102&DID=4645&DOC=FILE.PDF
2007-02-15 03:00:07 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
when it comes to recycling, not all plastics are the same! the polymers ('strings' of molecules) are of a different length for different types of plastic. When the plastic is recycled, the lengths of the polymers are reduced. sometimes the polymers are too short to be able to be recycled! This is how I understand it anyway. For a more in depth explanation, you could look at recoup, the experts on plastic recycling, or even phone them up. I did (not about this!!) and they were very helpful. Just google recoup.
2007-02-22 04:44:00 · answer #4 · answered by pugsley 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do a small experiment for yourself. Get an empty plastic bottle, screw the lid on really tight and try and crush it. You won't be able to! They want to crush the bottles to transport them. Take the lid off and recycle it seperately.
2007-02-15 02:58:42 · answer #5 · answered by Thesmileyman 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe, the bottles will build up pressure with the lids on and explode. Hot exploding plastic doesn't seem fun at all.
2007-02-15 02:49:11 · answer #6 · answered by silent*scream 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wellll I guess its because of the firm air spaces that leaving the tops on create, a lot of them left like this would take some crushing, actually the best thing to do is squeeze them flat under your arm and then screw the top back on!!
2007-02-15 02:52:15 · answer #7 · answered by Natural High 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The plastic is a different color and they do not want to mix the colors. You get a higher price when the plastics are not mixed. Some plastics have a different molecular composition.
2007-02-15 02:48:48 · answer #8 · answered by puppets48744 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe it help in crushing them as well as keeping people from weighing them down with water to make more money off recycling.
2007-02-15 02:48:22 · answer #9 · answered by KC 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
just remove the lids but include them in your recyclables. i'm sure it has something to do with the machines they use.
2007-02-15 02:46:58 · answer #10 · answered by saveit 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋