Plastic Recycling Codes

Plastic Recycling Tip

To ensure that the type of plastic you are putting out for blue box collection is recyclable, remember:

IF IT'S NOT A PLASTIC BOTTLE, JUG, JAR, TUB OR TUB LID - IT'S NOT RECYCLABLE!

The following items are also not acceptable for blue box recycling:

  • Plastic bags
  • Styrofoam
  • Plastic/produce packaging

Consult the Take it Back! directory to discover which retailers in your area will take back plastic bags and styrofoam.

Plastic recycling can sometimes be misunderstood causing confusion and misuse. A great example of this are the little numbers with the arrows around them (below) on the bottom of many plastic containers.

1- PETE - Polyethylene Terephthalate 2- HDPE - High Density Polyethylene 3 - PVC - Polyvinyl Chloride 4 - LDPE - Low Density Polyethylene 5 - PP - Polypropylene 6 - PS - Polystyrene 7 - Other - Other

Legend:

PETE - Polyethylene Terephthalate
HDPE - High Density Polyethylene
PVC - Polyvinyl Chloride
LDPE - Low Density Polyethylene
PP - Polypropylene
PS – Polystyrene
Other - Other

Do you know what they mean? This symbol is called an SPI Code (The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc.) and it identifies the most common plastic material used in the manufacture of a product or packaging. Unfortunately, this has little to do with whether or not the container is recyclable and often times ends up confusing people when it comes time to putting out their blue box plastic items.

Plastic products have different material density grades, which are not reflected in the SPI Code. For example, a plastic pop bottle and some food trays are both coded with a #1 PETE even though these two containers are not the same material. The pop bottle is made with a high-density #1 PETE while the food tray is made with a low-density #1 PETE.

The City of Ottawa's recycling program can only accept high-density plastic materials because at the present time there are no viable/sustainable markets for lower density plastics. In other words, no one has found a product to make out of the lower density plastics, therefore they cannot be recycled though the City's Blue Box Program.

Help Affect Change In The Plastics Industry

If you question why non-recyclable plastic containers are being manufactured and you wish to help affect change in the plastics industry, you can provide your input on plastics packaging and recyclables to the following organizations:

  • The Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC) is the governing organization for the plastics industry. (5925 Airport Road, Suite 500, Mississauga, ON, L4V 1W1 www.plastics.ca/ or www.cpia.ca/ )
  • The Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) is a not-for-profit organization committed to minimizing society's impact on the environment by eliminating waste. (51 Wolseley, 2nd Floor, Toronto, ON, M5T 1A4, Phone: 416-657-2797 Fax: 416-960-8053)
  • Waste Diversion Ontario is a permanent, non-share, non-government corporation created under the Waste Diversion Act on June 27, 2002. (45 Sheppard Avenue East, Suite 920, North York, ON, M2N 5W9)

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