Plastic Categories Explained (and how to recycle)

There are seven main types of plastic that you use around your home. These are broken down into the following categories. The numbers, in three looped arrows, are called their ‘plastic resin codes’. These are often stamped on plastic packaging and can be used to quickly identify what type of plastic you’re dealing with.

The most common – and easily recyclable (valuable/in demand) – of these are:

Types of Plastic and recycling, adapted from Which? — Types of Plastic and Recycling, adapted from Which?

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) – used in water bottles and plastic trays.
- greatest recycling demand & easier for recycling facilities to handle than other polymers.
- PET is the most commonly used, and particularly useful for packaging food and drinks, because it’s airtight and rigid, yet flexible.
High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) – used for milk cartons and shampoo bottles.
Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) – plastic carrier bags and bin liners.
Polypropylene (PP) – margarine tubs and ready-meal trays It has a high melting point, and so is often chosen for containers that must accept hot liquid. It is gradually becoming more accepted by recyclers.

These plastics have the greatest recycling demand and are easier for recycling facilities to handle than other polymers. That said, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and Polystyrene (PS) can also both be recycled, however it’s much more difficult to recycle these than the four listed above.

Zero Waste Llama’s Tips & Tricks for Plastic Recycling

Empty & rinse plastic containers & bottles
If there’s residual food waste left in your recycling, empty it and give it a quick rinse, before popping it in your recycling bins. I’m not saying make your rubbish sparkling clean, just be aware that (any recyclable) bottle or container with remnants of food left in it (plastics or tins), risks contaminating porous materials (e.g. paper, card….) in the same recycling load, which renders the item unrecyclable. (-#5 plastic – most commonly found in the form of tubs of butter/margarine – can be recycled into: signal lights, battery cables, brooms, brushes, auto battery cases, ice scrapers, landscape borders, bicycle racks, rakes, bins, pallets, trays… so it is REALLY worth cleaning these up and recycling them!)
Screw plastic bottle lids back on
Screw plastic bottle lids back on to their plastic bottles and push plastic straws back into cartons before recycling: these are too small to make it through most recycling sorting machines when separated from the bottle! This is also a good reason to have an empty bottle on one side (and keep hold of the lid!), in order to put smaller bits of (recyclable) plastic into it, before recycling.
Squash plastic bottles
By stamping on empty plastic bottles before you put them out for recycling, you will save space in your recycling bin (reducing your carbon footprint in the process), and this additionally stops them rolling off the conveyor belts on the sorting machine!
Recycle at the supermarket
Take recyclable plastic film and leftover carrier bags back to recycling points at big supermarkets – this could increase the amount of supermarket packaging you recycle by up to 10%.

Plastic bags and other soft-plastic wrapping

But what can you do with the non-recyclable plastics which are so common in our supermarket shops? Check which supermarkets allow the return of all their soft plastic packaging to recycling points. How? Go to Recycle Now and enter your postcode to find your nearest locations to recycle soft plastics!

The following different items are accepted at plastic carrier bag collection points in larger stores of major supermarkets:

All plastic bags, except biodegradable or compostable bags
Bread bags
Breakfast cereal liners
Bubble wrap
Delivery bags
Dry cleaning bags
Frozen food bags
Magazine and newspaper wrappers
Multi-pack wrapping
Plastic marked as low-density polyethylene (LDPE) – resin ID code 4
Toilet roll wrapping

Selected stores of major supermarkets also accept:

Baby, pet food, detergent and cleaning pouches
Biscuits and chocolate wrapping
Cheese, fish and meat wrapping
Cling film
Crisp and sweet bags
Plastic film lids
Salad, pasta, and rice bags

You can also go to the UK Government’s website, enter your postcode and it would redirect you to the recycling collection or locations for your area.

Photo by Naja Bertolt Jensen on @Unsplash