Question by btraister2000: Why do most recycling centers take only certain types of plastic containers?
If you look at most plastic containers, they have the recycling symbol and a number on it. To me that means it can be recycled. However, most centers will only take certain kinds of plastic containers. For example, I can put a plastic juice bottle in the recycling bin, but I can’t put a yogurt container in there even though it says it can be recycled. So what’s the deal?
Best answer:
Answer by Koren
This answer is from my husband who used to manage a recycling center. He says not all plastics are profitable. If they cant make a profit from it they won’t take it.
Give your answer to this question below!
The website http://www.earth911.com has lots of info on recycling. Basically plastic is hard to recycle, and can’t be made back into what it was, so the only real profitable ones are #1. The rest have limited applications.
Most recycling centers take plastic containers with a 1 or a 2 on the bottom. This is because it is more expensive to recycle other numbers. The plant may not have the technology or there may not be a high demand for products remade from recyclables with a number 5, for example.
There is a high demand for recycled plastic from items with a 1 or a 2 on the bottom because a significantly larger number of products can be remade with them.