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الاثنين، 23 نوفمبر 2015

Recycling Codes & The Definitions Behind Them

By Lenna Stockwell


Most products in the U.S. on its surface have a sign on it which is the recycling code. Each code identifies the materials used to create the products and they can help in identifying them for the workers at the recycling plant. This helps to separate different types of plastic, as well as glass, metal and paper, all of which have to be recycled in different ways. Here is more information about the codes and you can read them all down below.

The codes might look all the similar, just a number or two inside of a triangle. To identify the actual materials used for making the item, it is the number embossed inside the triangle which is the key. The numbers ranging from 1 to 7 are used solely for plastics and will refer to the resin identification codes or basically the types of polymers that were used. For example, with polyethylene terephthalate, the mark you will see would be a triangle with the number 1 or 01 in it and this means it is a thermoplastic that is usually used for making products like soda bottles and water bottles. The number 9 is also used in addition to the seven numbers for the kind of plastic called acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. Sometimes the letters ABS are used instead, and this plastic is used to make computer and cellular phone parts.

Another item which shows up in big stacks at recycling facilities is paper. Among the numbers which are used to identify different types of paper products are 20, 21, 22 and 23. For the cardboard it is identified as by 20 and paper like magazines and mailed items are registered as 21. Number 22 signifies the regular paper like the notebook and printer paper. Number 23 is used for the paperboard which is thick paper that is used for making book covers, greeting cards and poster board.

The number 40 or 41 are used for metals. Steel uses the number 40 while for aluminum the number 41 is used. Sometimes though the number 41 is not used for aluminum but instead there are letters used - ALU. Aluminum can be used again and again to create products because it is the most recyclable metal on the planet. Almost all "tin" cans are made by using aluminum due to its abundance and malleability.

Wood, cork and cotton which are organic materials also have their own numbers for identification. The number 50 is used for wood as an example. The number 51 is used for cork and it is also not just used to cover bottles to preserve wine. You can also use cork for flooring, also for musical instruments and it can even be in printers. The number 60 is used for cotton and you would be surprised to learn that this material can be recycled too.

Another item that is separated into many categories is glass and there are ten different categories for this material. Glass is generally classified into categories specified by their color like clear glass, green glass, dark glass and many more. Composites also have their own section which might include paper and plastic or even a mixture of the two. The problem is there are many cities out there that have no recycling centers for these items. There are some areas which could only recycle plastics which have a 1 or 2 on them and also aluminum.




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