
Every time I drink a bottle of iced tea or mineral water, I used to wonder what the number at the bottom of the container means. I’ve always thought that it is the number of times the plastic was recycled, I was wrong.
The numbers indicate the types of plastic used in making the container. There are seven types of consumer plastic or resin and are identified by a number inside three chasing arrows.
#1 PETE: Polyethylene Terephthalate.
Commonly used in soft drinks, juice, and cough syrup containers and microwave trays.
#2 HDPE: High Density Polyethylene.
Commonly used in milk jugs, detergent and shampoo bottles.
#3 V: Polyvinyl Chloride.
Commonly used in film for meat packaging and some rigid plastic containers.
#4 LDPE: Low Density Polyethylene.
Commonly used in newspaper and grocery bags and butter cups lids.
#5 PP: Polypropylene.
Commonly used in yogurt containers and deli trays.
#6 PS: Polystyrene.
Commonly used in plastic cups and plates and to-go containers.
#7 OTHER: Other mixed resins.
Commonly used in mixed plastic containers or plastic products.
The numbers are used by recycling plants to determine if they can recycle the plastic or not, because there are some plants that only accept certain types of plastic.
Popularity: 1% [?]