“America Recycles Day” is celebrated in November and draws attention to the importance of household recycling. Not all recycled items are equal. There needs to be a market for recycled items, particularly plastics, for them to actually get recycled.
Matt Flechter, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s (EGLE) Recycling Market Development Specialist said, “Containers such as shampoo bottles, milk jugs and yogurt cups or similar food tubs are the easiest to recycle and are in highest demand by recycling centers and U.S. manufacturers.”
Most people look at the number on the bottom of plastic containers and assume that means it is recyclable. That’s not always the case, according to EGLE. The shape of the item is the most important factor.
Generally, soft drink, juice, and water bottles, usually with a #1 on them, are easily recycled back into bottles or used to make carpet, luggage, and polyester. Laundry and shampoo bottles, #2 plastics, can also be recycled back into high-density plastic, and yogurt and margarine tubs, usually #5 plastics, are easily recyclable.
https://www.epa.gov/recyclingstrategy/america-recycles-day
Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland
