At the bottom of most plastic containers you can find a small number inside the three arrow triangle recycling symbol.This number is a reference to what type of plastic the container is made of. Each plastic is composed of a different molecule or set of molecules. Different molecules do not mix when plastics are recycled, it is like trying to recycle paper and glass together.
For this reason they need to be separated. The recycling numbers are a uniform way of classifying the different types of plastic and it aids recyclers in the sorting process.
Note that sometimes other numbers are found on the bottom of plastic containers, but only numbers inside the recycling symbol are valid for recycling purpose.
The recycling code constitutes of the numbers 1 through 7. Sometimes below the numbers you also find the abbreviations for the plastic type (PETE, HDPE, etc.).
The most widely accepted plastics for recycling are number 1 and 2, also most of plastic containers are type 1 and 2. Below is a list of the numbers, full names of the plastics they refer to, and some examples of common containers made of that product.
