Recyclable ≠ Recyclable

The recycling symbol is one of the most easily recognizable symbols today. People are so used to seeing it that you probably don’t even register when it appears on the bottom of grocery store containers, coffee cups and plastic water bottles. Have you ever noticed the little numbers that are placed inside of the recycling symbol? Maybe you have and never knew what they meant, or maybe you automatically register the recycling symbol, so the number isn’t something you’ve picked up on. That's exactly what the plastic industry wants.

The numbers in the recycle sign correspond with the type of plastic used and how recyclable a product is. You’d assume that because the products even have a recycle symbol in the first place, they are all recyclable. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Products with the numbers one and two are the most recyclable, and as the number increases to seven the products become less recyclable.

Even though it's the most recyclable type of plastic, Greenpeace USA reports products with the number one are only 20.9 percent likely to be reprocessed. Products with the number two are even less likely to be reprocessed, at 10.3 percent. Numbers three through seven each have a less than five percent chance of being reprocessed. This is because, generally, most recyclers take plastics one and two but are hesitant to take three through six because they are harder and more expensive to recycle. Plastics with the number seven are almost never accepted.

This number system may not seem like a big deal, but it is actively deceiving people across the world. Simply putting a recycle sign on a product that is rarely recyclable and not accepted by most recyclers is incredibly misleading. It is important to be aware of what you are consuming and how these so-called “recyclable” products are being handled. To familiarize yourself with the common products in each number category, use the diagram below.

If no one really knows about or pays attention to the numbers within the recycle sign, then what's the point? Honestly, we don’t think there is one. It seems like a failed attempt at categorizing plastics because consumers aren’t aware, and most recyclers don’t take most of the plastic groups. The “Plastic Wars” documentary talks about how in the 1980s and 1990s, the plastic industry convinced states to pass laws that required the recycle symbol with a number on the inside to be put on all plastic containers sold in that state. Most recyclers and consumers didn’t even know this happened. Coy Smith, who ran recycling centers during this time, even said that no one would take containers with higher numbers if he paid them.

The whole thing was just a way for the plastic industry to market non-recyclable plastic as recyclable plastic. The plastic industry even refused to put the numbers in a different shape because they wanted to deceive people into thinking that their products were recyclable. Now it’s reported that only five percent of plastic is actually recycled, while 85 percent of it ends up in a landfill. The recycle sign itself has lost its meaning, and now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering changing the symbol altogether so consumers are more aware of what plastics are actually recyclable.