If it doesn't have the recycle triangle on it, can it still be recycled?

Question

My orange juice and soy milk containers don't have the little triangle printed on them, can they still be recycled?

What can be recycled, and what can't?

I checked with my city's recycling program webpage and it mentioned something about numbers at the bottom of containers. Do those numbers mean it can be recycled?

Answer 1

These containers usually cannot be recycled because they are mixed layers in their construction. I.E. paper outer coated with wax and plastic liners. The triangles show that items are in fact recycleable, and numbers on plastics diffentiate the grade of plastic.
I tend to throw them in anyway because alot of recycled low grade paper is used to make things like acoustic tiles and I figure they can probably throw them into that mix.

Answer 2

The triangle tells recyclers what the material is. You can recycle without it, but the material isn't worth as much to recyclers because they have to mix it in with the miscellaneous stuff.

Answer 3

Many communities recycle these items. Here are a couple places to find out if yours does:

Phone book--many have recycling guidelines.

You local solid waste department phone line or website.