No, recycling symbols on plastics do not mean an item can ...

They said when people were asked to identify a set of four recycling symbols, including the universal recycling symbol known as the “Mobius ... Environment No,recyclingsymbolsonplasticsdonotmeananitemcanalwaysberecycled Thereareatotalofsevenresincodesandeachnumbersignifiesadifferentcategoryofplastics.Butdoesthatmeantheycanallberecycled? MoreVideos Nextupin5 Examplevideotitlewillgohereforthisvideo Author:ErinJones,BrandonLewis Published:12:22PMEDTAugust16,2021 Updated:4:40PMEDTAugust18,2021 Ina2019surveyconductedbytheConsumerBrandsAssociationonwhattheylabeledthe“brokenrecyclingsysteminAmerica,”68percentofrespondentssaidthattheyassumedanyproductwithsymbolsfeaturingallsevenofthedifferentrecyclingcodesmeanttheitemcouldberecycled.  Butwhenyouthrowaplasticcontainerintotherecyclebin,willitautomaticallyhaveachanceatanotherlife?TheVERIFYteamdigsintowhattherecyclingsymbolsreallymean. THEQUESTION Dorecyclingsymbolsonplasticsmeananitemcanalwaysberecycled? THESOURCES OceanaASTMInternationalConsumerBrandsAssociationMattLittlejohn,SeniorVicePresidentforStrategicInitiativesatOceanaKaraPochiro,VicePresidentofCommunications&PublicAffairsatTheAssociationofPlasticRecyclers THEANSWER No,recyclingsymbolsonplasticsdonotmeananitemcanalwaysberecycled. WHATWEFOUND In1988,theSocietyofthePlasticsIndustry,Inc.(SPI)—nowknownasthePlasticsIndustryAssociation—developedtheResinIdentificationCode(RIC)system.ThereareatotalofsevenresincodesandaccordingtoOceana,eachnumbersignifiesadifferentcategoryofplastics.Thenonprofitoceanconservationorganizationsaysthesystemwasoriginallydesignedtotellrecyclingfacilitieswhattypeofresincanbefoundinanygivenobject. ASTMInternational,oneoftheworld’slargestinternationalstandardsdevelopingorganizations,saysonitswebsitethatResinIdentificationCodes(RIC)arenot“recyclecodes,”andaccordingtoKaraPochiro,whoservesasthevicepresidentofcommunicationsandpublicaffairsatTheAssociationofPlasticRecyclers,aRICcodeonanitemdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatthematerialisrecyclable.  “Whenyousayrecyclingsymbols,Ithinkthatyou'retalkingabouttheResinIdentificationCode—you'retalkingaboutthenumbersthatareoftensurroundedbyeitheratriangleortherecyclingchasingarrows,”saidPochiro.“Thatisaverycommonmisconceptionthatthat'sactuallyarecyclingsymbol,butit'snot,itisaResinIdentificationCode.Thatmeanswhattypeofplasticthatmaterialismadeoutof.”  PochirotellsVERIFYthatthemostcommonlyrecycledplasticsfallintocategory“1,”whichincludeswaterbottlesandsodabottlesthataremadeoutofpolyethyleneterephthalate(PETorPETE),andcategory“2,”whichincludeslaundrydetergents,someshampoos,conditioners,andotherkitchenandcleaningproductsthataremadeoutofhigh-densitypolyethylene(HDPE).  Credit:TheAssociationofPlasticRecyclers AccordingtotheConsumerBrandsAssociation,manyofthepeoplewhorespondedtotheir2019surveywereconfusedaboutwhatthesevendifferentrecyclingsymbolsactuallymeantandrepresented.Theysaidwhenpeoplewereaskedtoidentifyasetoffourrecyclingsymbols,includingtheuniversalrecyclingsymbolknownasthe“MobiusLoop,”lessthanhalfgotevenonecorrect. “Ithinkonebigreasonthatthere'salotofconfusionwithrecyclingistherecyclingprogramsacrosstheUnitedStatesarenotstandardized,”saidPochiro.“Insomeareas,theydon'tdorecyclingatall,unfortunately,andtheninotherareas,theymightonlycollectonesandtwos.”  MattLittlejohn,theseniorvicepresidentforStrategicInitiativesatOceana,tellsVERIFYasmallamountofplasticisactuallyrecycled. “Ithinkthereisanassumptionthatmanyofushaveaboutwhatrecyclingisandthenthere’stherealityofwhatrecyclingis—thetwoaredifferent,”saidLittlejohn.“Mostplasticisnotrecyclable,andalotoftheplasticthatweputinthebinsaren'trecycled.Basically,what'shappeningwhenyouputitinthebin,it'sgoingtoendupgoinginthelandfill.”  TheConsumerBrandsAssociationsaysthousandsofcountiesandmunicipalitiesacrosstheU.S.settheirownrecyclingrules.Tofindoutwhichplasticsarerecyclablewhereyoulive,thebestthingtodoischeckwithyourlocalrecyclingcenter.  MorefromVERIFY: No,NASAdidnotsaythemaincauseoftidalfloodingin2030swillbethemoon’s‘wobble’ TheVERIFYteamworkstoseparatefactfromfictionsothatyoucanunderstandwhatistrueandfalse.Pleaseconsidersubscribingtoourdailynewsletter,textalertsandourYouTubechannel.YoucanalsofollowusonSnapchat,Twitter,Instagram,FacebookandTikTok.LearnMore» FollowUs YouTube Snapchat Twitter Instagram Facebook TikTok WantsomethingVERIFIED? Text:202-410-8808 RelatedStories Environment Yes,cruiseshipsdumpwasteintotheocean Cruiseshipsdodisposeofwasteintotheocean,buteachshipmustfollowspecificregulatoryrequirementswhendisposingofwaste,accordingtotheEPA. Environment Yes,youcandevelopanallergytoredmeatifthistickbitesyou IfaLoneStarTickbitesyougetsomethingcalledAlpha-galSyndrome(AGS) Science Claimsyoueatacreditcard’sworthofplasticperweekneedcontext Astudyestimatedpeoplecouldbeconsumingupto5gramsofmicroplasticsaweek,butthatnumberwastheextremehighendoftherangethescientistscalculated. Environment No,youcan’tseetheGreatPacificGarbagePatchfromspace TheGreatPacificGarbagePatchisalargecollectionofmarinedebristhatcanbeseenfloatingontheoceansurface.It’slarge,butyoucan’tseeitfromspace. Environment Yes,thegridcanhandlethedemandifmorepeopleadoptelectricvehicles Thereareclaimsaboutthenewtechnologyandhowthesevehiclescouldimpacttheenergygrid. Environment Somecitieshaveoutlawednewnaturalgashookupsbutthere’snonationwideban WhilesomeU.S.citieshavebannednaturalgashookupsinmostnewdevelopmentprojects,thereisnotanationalbaninplace. VERIFYNewsletter ThankYou Somethingwentwrong. Getournewsletterinyourinboxfivedaysaweek. Thankyouforsigningupforournewsletter! Pleasetryagainlater. SignMeUp! ThissiteisprotectedbyreCAPTCHAandtheGoogle PrivacyPolicyand TermsofServiceapply.