Labeling Changes for Plastic Containers

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2011 Oklahoma Recycling Seminar

S t i l l w a t e r , O k l a h o m a O c t o b e r 1 3 , 2 0 1 1

M I C H A E L P A T T O N

E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r M e t r o p o l i t a n E n v i r o n m e n t a l T r u s t w w w . m e t r e c y c l e . c o m r e c y c l e m i c h a e l @ y a h o o . c o m

Polyethylene Terephthalate

2       Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET, PETE). PET is clear, tough, and has good gas and moisture barrier properties. Commonly used in soft drink bottles and many injection molded consumer product containers. Other applications include strapping and both food and non-food containers. Cleaned, recycled PET flakes and pellets are in great demand for spinning fiber for carpet yarns, producing fiberfill and geo-textiles. Nickname: Polyester.

Recycled Products from

3           Fiber Tote Bags Clothing Film and Sheet Food and Beverage Containers Carpet Strapping Fleece Wear Luggage Bottles

High Density Polyethylene

4      High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE is used to make bottles for milk, juice, water and laundry products. Unpigmented bottles are translucent, have good barrier properties and stiffness, and are well suited to packaging products with a short shelf life such as milk. Because HDPE has good chemical resistance, it is used for packaging many household and industrial chemicals such as detergents and bleach. Pigmented HDPE bottles have better stress crack resistance than unpigmented HDPE bottles.

Recycled Products from

5                  Liquid laundry detergent Shampoo Conditioner Bottles Motor Oil bottles Pipe Buckets Crates Flower Pots Garden Edging Film and Sheet Recycling Bins Benches Dog Houses Plastic Lumber Floor Tiles Picnic Tables Fencing.

Vinyl

6      Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC).

In addition to its stable physical properties, PVC has excellent chemical resistance, good weatherability, flow characteristics and stable electrical properties. The diverse slate of vinyl products can be broadly divided into rigid and flexible materials. Bottles and packaging sheet are major rigid markets, but it is also widely used in the construction market for such applications as pipes and fittings, siding, carpet backing and windows. Flexible vinyl is used in wire and cable insulation, film and sheet, floor coverings synthetic leather products, coatings, blood bags, medical tubing and many other applications.

Recycled Products from

7                Packaging Loose-leaf Binders Decking Paneling Gutters Mud Flaps Film and Sheet Floor Tiles and Mats Resilient Flooring Cassette Trays Electrical Boxes Cables Traffic Cones Garden Hose Mobile Home Skirting

Low Density Polyethylene

8    Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE).

Used predominately in film applications due to its toughness, flexibility and relative transparency, making it popular for use in applications where heat sealing is necessary. LDPE is also used to manufacture some flexible lids and bottles and it is used in wire and cable applications

Recycled Products from

9           Shipping Envelopes Garbage Can Liners Floor Tile Furniture Film and Sheet Compost Bins Paneling Trash Cans Landscape Timber Lumber

Polypropylene

10    Polypropylene (PP). Polypropylene has good chemical resistance, is strong, and has a high melting point making it good for hot-fill liquids. PP is found in flexible and rigid packaging to fibers and large molded parts for automotive and consumer products.

Recycled Products from

11              Automobile Battery Cases Signal Lights Battery Cables Brooms Brushes Ice Scrapers Oil Funnels Bicycle Racks Rakes Bins Pallets Sheeting Trays

Polystyrene

12      Polystyrene (PS). Polystyrene is a versatile plastic that can be rigid or foamed. General purpose polystyrene is clear, hard and brittle. It has a relatively low melting point. Typical applications include protective packaging, containers, lids, cups, bottles and trays.

Recycled Products from

13           Thermometers Light Switch Plates Thermal Insulation Egg Cartons Vents Desk Trays Rulers License Plate Frames Foam Packing Foam Plates, Cups, and Utensils

Other

14  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 listed above, and used in a multi-layer combination.

Recycled Products from

15   Bottles Plastic Lumber Applications

Plastic Molding Processes and their Numbering

16     The numbers do not distinguish between different types of plastic molding processes, which affect whether or not a product is recyclable.

Molding is the process by which hot, molten plastic is turned into a container or other rigid object in the factory. For example, Plastic bottles are blow-molded, which means that the molten plastic is shaped by blowing air into it, much as a glass bottle is blown. Plastic tubs and trays are injection molded, which means that the plastic is injected into a fixed mold to form its shape.

Complications

17    Blow molded and injection molded plastics have different melting points and cannot be melted together for recycling, even if they are of the same resin, and even if they share the same code! That is, a #1 bottle or jug cannot be melted with a #1 tub or tray; and a #2 bottle or jug cannot be combined with a #2 tub or tray, and so on. Each must be identified, sorted, and stored separately.

Changes

18     American Society of Testing and Materials ASTM Formed a Subcommitee D20.95

Began Meeting in November 2008

Guidelines

19     MAKE THE CODE INCONSPICUOUS SO IT DOES NOT INFLUENCE THE BUYING DECISION DO NOT MODIFY IT IN ANYWAY MAKE NO CLAIM OF RECYCLING IN CLOSE PROXMITY TO THE CODE DO NOT USE THE WORD “RECYCLABLE” IN PROXIMITY TO THE CODE

Two Proposals

20   8 Linear Low Density Polyethylenes 9 Polyactic Acid  Zero Plus Number

    New Codes C Compostable B Blow-molded I Injection Code

What I Want

21

Thank You

22

2011 Oklahoma Recycling Seminar

S t i l l w a t e r , O k l a h o m a O c t o b e r 1 3 , 2 0 1 1

M I C H A E L P A T T O N

E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r M e t r o p o l i t a n E n v i r o n m e n t a l T r u s t w w w . m e t r e c y c l e . c o m r e c y c l e m i c h a e l @ y a h o o . c o m