Plastic Materials

Plastics are valuable materials that should be recycled.

For decades, plastic resins have been used to make bottles, jugs, containers, closures and other consumer packaging.

Valued for their light weight and durability, plastic products and packages help promote energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conserve resources.

Plastics often enable manufacturers to ship more product with less packaging. This light-weighting process can boost the environmental and economic efficiency of consumer product packaging. A study, “Impact of Plastics Packaging on Life Cycle Energy Consumption & Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the United States and Canada,” has determined that six major types of plastic packaging significantly reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions compared to packaging alternatives.

And in many cases, we can enhance plastics’ environmental benefits by remembering to recycle after use.  Plastic recycling rates are growing faster than ever. Bottles remain one of the most readily recycled plastics, but a growing number of communities collect and recycle other rigid plastic containers such as tubs, trays and lids. And many national grocery and retail chains now invite consumers to return used plastic bags for recycling.

• Plastic Bottles
• Plastic Film
• Rigid Plastics
• Other Plastics

Plastic Bottles

Plastic bottles are the most commonly-recycled household plastics. One report, "Plastics Recycling Collection: National Reach Study" found that 92% of Americans have access to plastic bottle recycling. In 2017, plastic bottle recycling reached nearly 2.8 billion pounds, a 29.3% recovery rate.

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Plastic Film

Plastic bags and plastic wraps make up the category “plastic film.” This includes everything from grocery and bread bags to shrink wrap and paper towel film. In 2016, the recovery for recycling of post-consumer plastic film surpassed 1.3 billion pounds – a 123-million-pound increase from 2015.

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Rigid Plastics

In 2016, at least 1.46 billion pounds of post-consumer rigid plastics were recycled nationwide – 4.5 times the amount recycled in 2007. Today, over 60% of people in the U.S. have access to non-bottle rigid container recycling, according to the Centralized Study on Availability of Plastic Recycling.

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Other Plastics

Beyond bottles, film and containers, many communities are recycling other plastics, such as protective packaging, bulky rigids, foodservice packaging, pallets and drums.

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