Most plastics can be recycled, but because of the difficulty and expense of sorting, collecting, cleaning and reprocessing it is only at the moment economically viable to recycle PETE, PVC and HDPE.
Thermoplastics can be remelted, but thermosetting plastics can only be crushed and used as insulation.
As you can not mix plastics together they have to be separated into their different polymer types.
| Recycling No. | Abbreviation | Polymer Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PETE or PET | Polyethylene Terephthalate |
| 2 | HDPE | High-Density Polyethylene |
| 3 | PVC or V | Polyvinyl Chloride |
| 4 | LDPE | Low-Density Polyethylene |
| 5 | PP | Polypropylene |
| 6 | PS | Polystyrene |
| 7 | OTHER | Other plastics, including acrylic and nylon. |