I notice that some plastics have numbers inside the recycle sign. What does this mean?

Question

On my sunscreen there was a 4 inside the recycle sign, but on the Starbucks lid, a 2 instead.

Answer 1

They identify the different types of plastic.  Almost all recycling centers accept #1 and #2.  Nowadays, many will take any kind of plastic.

Answer 2

I believe it may indicate what level of bisphenol-a. 1 being very low (harmless) and 7 being high (when used in water bottles and other such products can be harmful). see water bottle recalls for Nalgene.

Answer 3

The triangle means the container is recyclable, and from what I understand the number inside is for the recycling facilities for sorting purposes, such as color, plastic type, ect.  Hope this helps, and if anyone knows the specifics on the number relation to is function please add more!

Thanks,

Shannon

Answer 4

They only identify the type of plastic.  The numbers have nothing to do with how recycleable something is.  For example, plastic #3 is almost impossible to recycle, while #4 is easy and #5 not too difficult.

#1= PETE =  Polyethylene Terephthalate

#2= HDPE = High Density Polyethylene

#3= PVC= Polyvinyl Chloride

#4= LDPE = Low Density Polyethylene

#5= PP  = Polypropylene

#6= PS = Polystyrene

#7= Other -any other plastic, such as ABS or PC (polycarbonate)

Answer 5

The numbers are for the easiest (#1) to the hardest (#7) to recycle...

Answer 6

The type of plastic.

Different types of plastic have to be recycled in different ways.