How to Recycle Plastic Cans

Plastics can be recycled to make new products.

Recycling helps the environment by protecting our resources. It also generally takes less energy to create a new product from a recycled one than it does to create a whole new product. For example, recycled plastic cans can be used to make new plastic cans or other plastic products. If you're interested in recycling your used plastic cans, you need to know some basics about recycling.

Instructions

1. Look at the bottom of your plastic cans. You will see a number. This number represents the type of plastic it is made of.

2. Separate your plastic cans by number. For example, all the #5 plastic should be separate from #4 plastic. The numbers range from one to seven.

3. Remove any parts of the plastic cans that aren't plastic, such as the lids. These should not be included with the recycled plastics.

4. Take your separated plastics to your local recycling center. You can call ahead to find out if they recycle all the types of plastic you have.

5. Take the plastic cans out of the container you brought them in and transfer them to the appropriate recycling container. Unless your recycling center has single-stream recycling, the containers will most likely be labeled with the type of plastic that should go in each one.

References

• Time to Recycle: How to Recycle