Am I wasting my time.....????

[Hedge Witch]

Originally Posted by Jez

Bottles, bags what have you I have noticed have different numbers in the middle of the recycle symbol. Can anyone tell me what the different numbers mean

If you are talking about the plastics, Jez, this is a list:

#1 - Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE) or (PET). Polyester is its nickname.
Used for: soft drink and water bottles, beer bottles, mouthwash bottles, peanut butter and salad dressing containers, ovenable film, ovenable pre-prepared food trays.
Recycled into: Polar fleece clothing, fiber, tote bags, bottles, clothing, furniture, carpet.
#2 - High Density Polyethylene (HDPE).
Used for: milk, water and juice containers, trash and retail bags, liquid detergent bottles, yogurt and margarine tubs, cereal box liners.
Recycled into: liquid laundry detergent containers, drainage pipe, oil bottles, recycling bins, benches, pens, doghouses, vitamin bottles, floor tile, picnic tables, lumber, mailbox posts, fencing.

#3 - Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC)
Used for: Clear food packaging, shampoo bottles, medical tubing, wire and cable insulation. There has been increasing concern over the potential toxicity of PVC, watch the media for developments.

#4 - Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
Used for: Bread bags, frozen food bags, squeezable bottles (e.g. honey, mustard).

#5 - Polypropylene (PP)
Used for: Ketchup bottles, yogurt containers and margarine tubs, medicine bottles

#6 - Polystyrene (PS)
Used for: Compact disc jackets, food service applications, grocery store meat trays, egg cartons, aspirin bottles, cups, plates.

#7 - Other: Use of this code indicates that the package in question is made with a resin other than the six listed above, or is made of more than one resin used in combination.
Used for: Three and five gallon reusable water bottles, some citrus juice and ketchup bottles

HTH

[FungiJus]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

I've never understood why plastic bottle caps are not to be included with the bottles - presumably a different type of plastic. A bit of the bottle top remains on the neck of the bottle however - the security seal. I guess that bit gets recycled with the bottle.

On the label of the mineral water before me it says, "Bottle Plastic widely recycled, Cap Plastic check local recycling, Label Paper not currently recycled"

I have a theory that this is simply to encourage people to leave the tops off empty bottles, rather than sealing them back up again before collection. Plastic bottles don't weigh much anyway per unit volume (compared to glass, steel etc) - even less so when they can't easily be crushed because the lid is on.

J.

[The Woodman]

You're right about the volume and the cap theory would stand in my opinion.

I've developed the "roll up" technique, i.e. with a slack top, roll the bottle up from the rigid base as tightly as possible and then screw the top on hard. The bottle will flex open a little but it saves a shed load of space.

The local field studies centre were making a green house out of 1.5 and 2 ltr bottles. I don't know if it ever got finished, I'll have a look in the next coouple of days..

At the Environment Agency office in Penrith, there's a mesh sided skip for plastic bottles and it's gone through my mind that a great deal of fresh air is transported to the recycling centre at the expense of a small amount of plastic.

[Paul mabbott]

Great. Now, if everyone were issued with this list we could separate our waste into even more boxes!

Originally Posted by Hedge Witch

If you are talking about the plastics, Jez, this is a list:

#1 - Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE) or (PET). Polyester is its nickname.
Used for: soft drink and water bottles, beer bottles, mouthwash bottles, peanut butter and salad dressing containers, ovenable film, ovenable pre-prepared food trays.
Recycled into: Polar fleece clothing, fiber, tote bags, bottles, clothing, furniture, carpet.
#2 - High Density Polyethylene (HDPE).
Used for: milk, water and juice containers, trash and retail bags, liquid detergent bottles, yogurt and margarine tubs, cereal box liners.
Recycled into: liquid laundry detergent containers, drainage pipe, oil bottles, recycling bins, benches, pens, doghouses, vitamin bottles, floor tile, picnic tables, lumber, mailbox posts, fencing.

#3 - Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC)
Used for: Clear food packaging, shampoo bottles, medical tubing, wire and cable insulation. There has been increasing concern over the potential toxicity of PVC, watch the media for developments.

#4 - Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
Used for: Bread bags, frozen food bags, squeezable bottles (e.g. honey, mustard).

#5 - Polypropylene (PP)
Used for: Ketchup bottles, yogurt containers and margarine tubs, medicine bottles

#6 - Polystyrene (PS)
Used for: Compact disc jackets, food service applications, grocery store meat trays, egg cartons, aspirin bottles, cups, plates.

#7 - Other: Use of this code indicates that the package in question is made with a resin other than the six listed above, or is made of more than one resin used in combination.
Used for: Three and five gallon reusable water bottles, some citrus juice and ketchup bottles

HTH

[Paul mabbott]

Even more perplexing is why you can't recycle bottle tops (separated from glass bottles) which are mainly aluminium.

Originally Posted by The Woodman

I've never understood why plastic bottle caps are not to be included with the bottles - presumably a different type of plastic. A bit of the bottle top remains on the neck of the bottle however - the security seal. I guess that bit gets recycled with the bottle.

On the label of the mineral water before me it says, "Bottle Plastic widely recycled, Cap Plastic check local recycling, Label Paper not currently recycled"

[pressld2]

You're definitely doing the right thing Daisychain - good on ya!

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Don't you have a plastics disposal/recycling bin? If so then you wouldn't need to chop them at all?

Even if you have plastic recycling facilities it's still best to chop them. Whenever the recycling facilities get swamped with more than they can cope with, which seems to happen quite frequently where I live, a lot of our carefully seperated rubbish ends up in landfill anyway.

We were originally told that we couldn't recycle the plastic lids from milk and fruit juice containers but recent leaflets from the council have dropped that restriction so we're now chucking them in the plastics box. We've always put the aluminium lids from screw cap glass bottles in with the cans.

That's a very useful list Hedgie - I love the fact that some recycled plastics are used to make recycling bins!

Dave P.

[Biomotors]

Originally Posted by Hedge Witch

#7 - Other: Use of this code indicates that the package in question is made with a resin other than the six listed above, or is made of more than one resin used in combination.
HTH

Ouch! Who designed an enumeration where the catchall is just the next number in the very short list? Did they not think any more polymers would be invented? "Any Other or a mixture" should have been at "0", or at least at "99".

Dominic

[Lance Morgan]

Originally Posted by loripo

People seem to be getting worse about littering etc. Ive read some of th posts about dog fouling and what dog owners do with the poo bags. I took this photo a few months ago near where I live in London - this stuff washed up and down the Thames and the smell is gross sometimes. The swna were trying to find something edible. There is about ten to fifteen feet of water under what looks like a solid surface.

Send this to the local paper and shame the borough into doing something about it.

[Dutchess]

Originally Posted by Daisychain

I run each morning and on my travels I see lots of plastic ring things, they're used to hold 4 pack of cans together, well someone told me that birds get caught in them and can die, so Ive started picking them up and when I get home I cut them into pieces. Is the bird story true or am I wasting my time. It bugs me that people cant be bothered to just use a bin, its not rocket science......

Ever since I watched a tv programme many, many years ago which featured a seagull which had got caught up in one of these things I have cut them up before discarding them. I have also taken the opportunity to show others the necessity for doing so. The message gets through!

D.

[Jez]

I happen to think what with the recycling we are doing that producing a lot more recycled public bins to be placed on our streets. For example I had to leave work early oneday and go into the town centre, I didn't have my bike with me that day so I walked it and left the shop with some refreshment to drink on way. After finish drinking it I wasn't going to drop it, no like any decent human I intended to dispose of it in a public bin but the nearest one I came to was roughly 2 miles down the main road where I discarded it. Now I can't see everyone adopting the same manner, giving up and chucking their rubbish down only to become dangers to wildlife. Unless more is done for depositing our rubbish, attitudes won't change and it will still be left down to the likes of us who can't bear to see littered streets to carry on doing the good work!