Seven Common Types of Plastic, Do You Know The Difference?

Seven Common Types of Plastic, Do You Know The Difference?

I. Types of plastics

So far, there are nearly one hundred kinds of known plastic materials. According to the function of plastic is divided into three types of general-purpose plastics, engineering plastics and special plastics. There are a total of seven types of commonly used plastics. If we take a closer look at the bottom of a clear plastic bottle (e.g., plastic bottles containing food and laundry detergent), we will notice a triangular recycling symbol consisting of three arrows and the numbers 1-7 in it.

This set of codes is developed by the Society of Plastics Industry (SPI) for the types of plastic products used, and the numbers 1-7 represent the type of resin used in the plastic. With this number, the identification of the plastic species in the waste recycling and processing plant becomes simple and easy, and the recycling cost has been drastically cut. Many countries around the world have now adopted this SPI labeling scheme.

The number, if "1", means that the plastic is made of a material called polyethylene terephthalate (PET); some opaque plastic bottles (e.g., those containing milk), the number in the triangular symbol is "2", which means that they are made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), which can be seen in the chart below.

II. Representative products of seven common plastics and notes on their use

This part of the main introduction to the seven common plastic representative products, as well as due to the characteristics of the material, we need to pay attention to the daily use of the place.

1. Polyethylene terephthalate - 01 PET, such as: mineral water bottles, carbonated beverage bottles

Use: Heat-resistant up to 70 ℃, only suitable for warm or frozen drinks; loaded with high-temperature liquids, or heating is easy to deform, there are harmful substances melted out. Therefore, beverage bottles and other used up on the throw away, do not use as a cup of water, or used to do storage containers loaded with other items, so as not to cause health problems more than worth it.

2. High-density polyethylene - 02 HDPE, such as: cleaning products, bath products.

Ordinary plastic bags are made of polyethylene (PE), its toughness is better, PE is also divided into HDPE (high-density polyethylene) and LDPE (low-density polyethylene), the density of the different, resulting in some of its performance and a big difference.

Use: can be reused after careful cleaning, but these containers are usually not good for cleaning, residue of the original cleaning products, into a breeding ground for bacteria, it is best not to recycle.

3. Polyvinyl chloride - 03 PVC such as: some decorative materials.

Use: This material is easy to have harmful substances at high temperatures, if in use, do not let it be subjected to heat. At present, this material has been less used for packaging food containers.

4. Low-density polyethylene - 04 LDPE, such as: plastic wrap, plastic film, etc..

Use: itself breathable and impermeable, heat resistance is not strong, usually, qualified PE cling film in the case of temperatures exceeding 110 ° C will appear hot melt phenomenon, will leave some of the human body can not decompose the plastic agent. In the microwave oven before you must look at the plastic wrap packaging is printed on the microwave heating words, no this sign, it is not suitable for microwave heating.

5. Polypropylene - 05 PP ( can withstand temperatures above 100 degrees ) such as: microwave oven lunch box.

Use: This is the only plastic box that can be put into the microwave oven inside the seven kinds, can be reused after cleaning. It is worth noting that some microwave oven lunch boxes are made of No.5 PP for the body, but No.1 PE for the lid. Since No.1 PE can not withstand high temperature, it can not be put into the microwave oven together with the box body. So the lid can be removed before the plastic box is put into the microwave.

Polypropylene during this year's epidemic, but also played a big role: disposable medical suits, disposable masks, most of which is it sprayed at high temperatures tens to hundreds of nanometer filaments, and then spun into a non-woven fabric made of.

6. Polystyrene-06 PS ( heat-resistant 60-70 degrees, loaded with hot drinks will produce toxins, combustion will release styrene ) such as: bowls of instant noodle boxes, fast food boxes.

Use: it is both heat and cold, but can not be put into the microwave oven, so as not to release chemicals due to high temperature. And it can not be used to multiply strong acid (such as orange juice), strong alkaline substances, because it will decompose the polystyrene which is not good for human body and easily cause cancer. Therefore, we'd better not use fast food containers to pack boiling hot food.

Because of its cheap price, it is now used in large quantities, for example, many disposable plastic tableware are made of it. However, it is difficult to degrade itself and is harmful to the environment. It is recommended that we try not to use this type of plastic products in our lives.

7. Other Plastic Code- 07 Others e.g.: water bottles, water cups, milk bottles.

If there is no number on the plastic packaging, it will generally be treated as a seven, other categories.

III. The current recycling situation

Generally, 01 PET and 02 HDPE are recyclable and we can put them directly into the blue recyclable bin (note: all recycled items must be clean). The current recycling rate for 01 PET is about 20%.

At the waste treatment plant, recycled plastic waste is sorted by color and type (common sorting techniques are manual and machine sorting), and in some cases by weight via a blower. After sorting, the plastic waste is shredded, melted into balls, and sold to manufacturers for reprocessing. Recycled plastics can be used to make other products such as carpeting, clothing, and plastic packaging.

03 PVC is rarely recycled at this time. Occasionally, when it is recycled directly by plastics manufacturers, it is remade into building materials.

04 LDPE, such as the various plastic bags that are normally used, are recyclable materials but have been rarely recycled because the economics of their recycling are relatively low. More and more communities and organizations are now focusing on this part of recycling. But keep in mind that #4 plastic cannot be thrown into the blue recyclable trash cans at this time.

05 PP is the second most used type of plastic in the world, but the recycling rate is less than 1%. Some products made from 05 PP and 06 PS can be recycled, such as clean lunch boxes/yogurt containers, but it is recommended that you check with your community's garbage disposal for details.

05 PP, such as yogurt containers, when recycled, are generally downgraded for reuse and cannot be reused as a raw material for food packaging because of technological limitations. In searching for information, I found a company dedicated to plastics recycling - PureCycle - which is currently focusing on #5 plastic waste through a proprietary recycling process developed and licensed by Procter & Gamble (P&G) that separates color, odor and other contaminants from the waste plastic material and transforms it into clean, "high-quality" recycled polypropylene. high quality" recycled polypropylene. And, unlike other recycling technologies that use chemicals, the purification process is a physical process combined with non-toxic additives that use less energy. The company recycles recycled polypropylene into highly sensitive consumer product applications, including food and beverage packaging, consumer product packaging, automotive interiors, electronics, home furnishings and many other products.

07 Others plastics have not been recycled much before, but with newer types of plastics, such as polycarbonate, also being classified as such, it is recommended that this can also be confirmed by checking local recycling policies.

IV. What we do in daily life

Combined with the rules of 3R (the rules of 3R): reducing, reusing and recycling, there are many places in our lives where we can reduce the use of plastics and reuse them more than recycling them. Here are a few tips for reference only.

- Whenever possible, use your own cup of water instead of disposable cups or bottles when you are out and about or at work.

- Use your own shopping bags when you go out shopping, especially to the supermarket.

- Plan ahead when shopping online so that you can shop for items at the same time and reduce the waste of packaging materials.

- Re-utilizing unused plastic bags at home. Plastic shopping bags can be used as good garbage can liners, packaging materials or lunch bags; they can also be placed in designated plastic bag recycling locations.

- Some takeaway containers can also be recycled after washing (blue bin).

Feel free to share any tips you know, guys. If you are also in the compound industry, you are also welcome to leave your thoughts on plastic recycling technology!