Vitamin
bottles and recycled school work
August
22, 2003
Dear
Marti,
I'm wondering about pill and vitamin bottles. They usually have
a #1, #2 or #5 on them. Am I correct in assuming they can be recycled?
Signed,
Ernie
Hi, Ernie
Plastics recycling is definitely confusing.
Sometimes it seems you have to have a PhD in polymers, resins,
and melting indexes to sort it all out. Admittedly, I'm lacking
a plastics PhD myself, but I took the abridged course. You're
right, of course. The guidelines ARE that you can recycle #1 and
#2 bottles, and it makes sense to assume a plastic vitamin or
prescription "bottle" would fit into that category.
But you happen to have hit upon the great exception to the #1,
#2 and #5 bottle rule.
Prescription and vitamin bottles will frequently
have the right numbers on them, but they are not recyclable. You'll
notice they are more rigid than your other recyclable bottles.
That's because, though they do start out as the same material,
they go through a different manufacturing process and as a result
don't have the same melting point as other bottles with a #1,
#2 or #5 on them. They have a different consistency at the same
temperature (sometimes thinking of "soup" versus "pudding"
is helpful), making them incompatible in a re-manufacturing process.
It's the same reason plastic bottle tops can't be recycled, no
matter their number. So there you go! You now have an honorary
plastics doctorate from Eco-Cycle.
Dear Marti,
I just noticed there's a sign at the drop-off center telling us
to step on large plastic containers. I haven't been doing that.
Why are we supposed to?
Signed,
Stacy
Dear Stacy,
Yes, we're asking everyone to do the "plastic
bottle stomp," not as an exercise for the quads nor as an
aggression release mechanism (though it does have these added
benefits) but, believe it or not, to help with glass recycling.
When large plastic jugs and plastic bottles one liter or larger
are left "inflated" and are mixed with commingled containers,
they float to the top of the pile of materials while the glass
containers settle to the bottom, crashing up against each other
and breaking.
Broken glass is not as easily recyclable as
intact glass, so the breakage decreases the value of the material.
When plastic bottles are flattened, they do not float to the top,
but stay sandwiched in between the glass, creating a cushioning
barrier. So try the plastic bottle stomp (taking care not to twist
an ankle). We'll get glass that's more recyclable, you'll feel
more relaxed and gain some muscle tone.
Dear Marti,
I'm getting my kids ready to go back to school and am recycling
old school work from last year. I was wondering if construction
paper and wire spiral-bound notebooks are recyclable.
Signed,
Lisa
Hi, Lisa
Ah, a little environmental 3r's (Reduce, Reuse,
Recycle) before the academic 3r's. The answer is "no"
to the construction paper and "yes" to the spiral notebooks.
Construction paper falls in the same category as neon or fluorescent
colored paper. It's so saturated with dye that the paper fibers
are not recyclable. But there's better news with the spiral-bound
notebook. The backs to spiral notebooks are typically made of
paperboard, so we ask that you rip those off and recycle them
with your cereal boxes and other single-layered paperboard. Then
you can toss the rest of the notebook, including the spiral binding,
in with your office paper and junk mail. That spiral binding will
come out in the wash. The notebooks will get pulped up in a vat
and the paper will pull off the wire or plastic binding. Then
the binding and any other contaminants, like staples, paperclips,
etc., will be removed by a screen. If the notebook cover is plastic,
please remove that from the paper and throw it away.
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