WHY DID BERKELEY ADD ONLY #1 AND #2 PLASTIC BOTTLES TO THE PROGRAM?

One factor that complicates plastic recycling is that many different types of plastic are used in consumer packaging. Each plastic behaves differently when you try to recycle it, and some plastics can't be recycled at all. For these reasons, plastics must be sorted by type before manufacturers can use it again to make a new product. The plastics industry uses a numbering system to group plastic packaging into seven general categories (see sidebar). Of these seven, only #1 PET and #2 HDPE narrow-necked bottles are commonly collected and recycled into new material. (95% of the bottles in California are #1 or #2 narrow-necked.) Some communities collect #1 through #7 plastics in the belief that more #1 and #2 bottles will be collected and recycled if customers don't have to worry anbout the numbers. But the #3 through #7 plastic is often discarded. In Berkeley, we decided this approach would mislead the public.

WHY CAN'T MY YOGURT CUP BE RECYCLED? IT HAS A #2 ON THE BOTTOM, JUST LIKE THE MILK JUG YOU ACCEPT. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?Many types of plastic containers such as yogurt cups, plastic bags, styrofoam, take-out food containers and wide-mouth bottles, are not recyclable. So even though your yogurt cup may have a #2 embossed on the bottom inside the chasing arrow symbol, that doesn't necessarily mean it's recyclable. The number on the bottom of the container indicates the general category of plastic it's made from. Although a yogurt cup may be made of #2 plastic, (the same type of material as a recyclable milk jug or bleach bottle), it contains different dyes, plasticizers, UV inhibitors, softeners, and other chemicals required to shape it into a cup. This mix of additives changes the properties of the plastic and make it incompatible with the plastic used to make bottles. Currently, there is little demand for the yogurt cup type of plastic on its own. Adding to the confusion, the plastics industry's use of the chasing arrows symbol with its numbering system leads some people to believe that any container with arrows is recyclable. The industry says it never intended the symbol to indicate that a container was recyclable or had recycled content, but simply used it as a catchy graphic to highlight the identifying number. Recyclers requested that plastic container manufacturers change the graphic since it is misleading, but the industry has resisted efforts to modify it.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PLASTIC BOTTLES THAT ARE COLLECTED?

Few local markets exist for turning plastic bottles back into bottles. Right now, Berkeley sells plastic for end uses such as lumber and fiber for various products. Although this is an alternative to landfilling it, ideally we would prefer an approach where all plastic bottles go back to a manufacturer for creation into new bottles. Not so long ago, we bought soda in glass bottles and returned them to the store to get our dime back. Those bottles were returned to the bottling plant, cleaned and reused. Bottles that were not reusable were recycled — that is, the glass was melted down and used to make new bottles. This is an example of "closed loop" recycling. "Closed loop" means that materials, (in this case glass), are kept out of the landfill and used over and over again. (Hence, the chasing arrows symbol.) Closed loop recycling is the most sustainable form of recycling and prevents the further mining of natural resources. Glass and metals can be recycled over and over, theoretically staying out of the landfill forever. Paper, too, can be recycled many times over. Most plastic, however, cannot be recycled in such a "closed loop" manner because it degrades significantly in the recycling process. Closed loop plastic recycling will not be a reality until the plastics industry buys recaptured plastic and recycles it back into its original packaging.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO MAKE A PLASTIC BOTTLE BACK INTO ANOTHER PLASTIC BOTTLE?

Yes. Some European countries require that soda bottles made of #1 plastic be made back into bottles. Although the technology exists to use recaptured plastic, little has been done in the United States because of cost, lack of incentive, and packagers' and grocery manufacturers' preference for new or "virgin" plastic. Additionally, there are challenges keeping nonrecyclable plastics (#3 through #7) from mixing with and contaminating loads of #1 or #2 plastics during processing. The American Plastics Council (APC) continues to promote plastics recycling as easy, economical, and successful while simultaneously encouraging the use of more and more plastic. In one eight month period, the APC spent $18 million in a national advertising campaign to "Take Another Look at Plastics." According to the Environmental Defense Fund, during that same time, while 15 billion pounds of plastic were produced, only 1 billion were taken back and recycled. The growth of new plastic products continued to outpace the growth of plastic product recycling by a factor of 14 to 1.¹

While using lightweight plastic for packaging improves shipping efficiency and durability, there are environmental tradeoffs. Based on the EPA's 1994 Toxic Release Inventory, the plastics industry annually contributes 14% of the national total of toxic releases to the atmosphere.² Producing a 16-oz. #1 bottle generates more than 100 times the amount of toxic emissions than making the same size bottle out of glass.³

IF WE CANNOT "CLOSE THE LOOP" WHEN RECYCLING PLASTIC PACKAGING, ISN'T MAKING PLASTIC INTO PRODUCTS LIKE LUMBER GOOD ENOUGH?

Although plastic lumber and fiber represent a destination for recovered plastic and provide some environmental benefit, making these materials does not decrease resource extraction for making new plastic packaging. New plastic must continually be made to keep up with the demand for plastic packaging used today. If manufacturers reincorporate plastic in their packaging, the need for resource extraction will diminish. There are some encouraging examples. The rug industry, for instance, uses both recycled and virgin plastic to make polyester fiber and has shown commendable initiative by taking back their worn carpeting for recycling. Computer manufacturers are working cooperatively to redesign their products for easy dismantling, reuse of components and recyclability. In addition, some office furniture companies take back their products, which contain a lot of plastic. Together these actions are part of what is now called "Manufacturer Responsibility."

1 Environmental Defense Fund, "Something to hide: The sorry state of plastics recycling," October 21, 1997.

2 Developing Local Markets for Post-Consumer Rigid PET and HDPE Containers in the East Bay, Oakland Recycling Assn., Oakland, CA 1995.

3 CSG/Tellus Packaging Study: "Assessing the Impacts of Production and Disposal of PackagingÉ" US Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, Boston, MA, May 1992.