Recycling is highly beneficial to the environment. It creates less waste and minimizes demand for raw materials for new products. One of the main barriers to recycling is the confusion around the symbols because each represents different types of materials with distinct recycling instructions. So, before tossing an item into the bin, learn more about the most common recycling symbols and what they stand for.
What Is Recycling?
Recycling is the recovery or reuse of waste materials or products. Any time you repurpose rather than discard, you are recycling. For example, rather than throwing away an empty pickle jar, you can recycle or reuse it to store other items. You are also recycling any time you drop off recyclable materials at a processing plant, where they are recovered and reprocessed to make new products, which keeps them out of landfills. Recycling reduces environmental strain by minimizing waste and the need for new resources.
Types of Recycling
The three types of recycling are primary, secondary, and tertiary.
- Primary recycling involves reusing recyclable materials or products without altering their original state. Glassware, toys, and electronics are ideal for primary recycling.
- Secondary recycling involves repurposing materials without having to reprocess them. For example, you can use egg cartons to plant seedlings and plastic water bottles as plant pots. Plastic, glass, and wood are great for different DIY projects.
- Tertiary recycling involves sophisticated practices to alter materials for reuse. For example, melting metals and plastics for reuse requires professional skills and an industrialized process.
Common Recycling Symbols
Recycling symbols appear on almost every disposable item, including soft drink bottles, soda cans, bread bags, and toiletry packaging. The symbols indicate whether an item can be recycled and how to dispose of it. Check your municipality’s recycling rules, regulations, and guidelines to see what it accepts for recycling and how the material needs to be packaged for pickup. Common recycling symbols include:
1. Mobius Loop
The recycling triangle with three ribboned arrows is the Mobius loop. Most people know the symbol but not the name. It is visible in millions of products and materials worldwide. The Mobius loop indicates that a product has the potential to be recycled. However, the symbol does not guarantee that the item will be accepted in all recycling centers or that the item is made from recycled materials.
A Mobius loop with a percentage in the middle means the packaging or product contains X% of recycled material. Different variations of the Mobius loop have various meanings, including plastic resin codes.
2. Plastic Resin Codes
While plastics have many uses, single-use plastics have severe environmental, social, and health consequences. Globally, people purchase one million plastic bottles every minute1. Thus, it’s no surprise that the world produces around 350 million tons of plastic each year, and between 1 and 2 million tons end up in the ocean annually, affecting sea life2. Improving plastic waste management is critical to improving global ecosystems.
There are over 50 groups of plastics, with different varieties and different recycling instructions. The USA currently uses seven numbered codes for various types of plastic recyclables.
3. Glass
The glass recycling symbol indicates you can recycle a glass container, jar, or bottle. It looks like a Mobius loop with the letters “GL” under it. Add items with this symbol to your household recycling or dispose of them in a dedicated glass bank. Most municipalities collect glass curbside, so check for the schedule. You might need to separate glass by color.
4. Aluminum
The aluminum symbol indicates that the product or material is made of aluminum. The item can be deposited in an aluminum or mixed metal recycling container. The symbol is commonly found on soda cans, deodorant, aerosol sprays, and paint cans. Most curbside recycling programs accept aluminum cans but not aluminum foil, which can be thrown in regular trash if it has been used for food prep.
Always rinse food from aluminum cans before recycling them.
5. Paper
Paper recycling symbols indicate that the type of paper used to make a product is fit for recycling. PAP20 is for corrugated fiberboard or cardboard. PAP21 is for fiberboard found in cereal and snack boxes. PAP22 represents regular paper, including newspapers, books, magazines, straws, etc. Paper products must remain dry to facilitate recycling.
6. Compost
The compost recycling symbol indicates that a product or material is biodegradable and can be composted. It indicates materials such as paper, wood, plant-based plastics, and natural fibers that can be composted.
Additional recycling symbols include the compostable logo, biodegradable plastic recycling symbol, compostable plastic recycling symbol, and biodegradable products institute symbol.
7. Others
Another recycling symbol is a green dot, which indicates that you can recycle packaging or products through existing infrastructure and collection systems. You might also find steel, organic, and composite recycling symbols. Each facilitates an effective recycling process for those types of items.
What You Need to Know About Non-Recyclables
Throwing non-recyclable items into a dedicated recycling system costs processors time and money. Placing the wrong items in the recycling bin can damage recycling equipment or degrade the recycling process.
Recycling can feel like alphabet soup: PET, PETE, and HDPE can be picked up through most curbside recycling programs and recycled into various products, like furniture, lumber, and bottles. PVC and V are rarely recycled, but some plastic lumber makers accept them for recycling into decks, mudflaps, and flooring. Some municipalities may have special drop-off points for items with the PVC symbol. Few curbside recycling programs accept items with LDPE, PP, PS, and O recycling symbols, so most of these can be thrown in the trash. Other programs may take them to reuse as shopping bags or return them to stores.
Recycling Problems to Avoid
Always clean the recyclable items to remove any food residue before placing them in recycling bins. Dirty containers can contaminate recyclable batches, making them non-recyclable. Check the city’s recycling guidelines, as processes vary by region. Mixed materials are often non-recyclable because they must be separated to process.
