Recycling facilities (called Materials Recovery Facilities-
hereafter known as MRFs) do NOT mix together everything from a
certain resin type. The numbers inside the recycling circle tell
you nothing about recyclability and only tell you what general
category (resin type) of plastics something belongs to. (Yes,
even though it has a recycle symbol, it still tells you nothing
about recyclability, recycled content, etc.) A perfect example
of this is #1 (PETE or polyethylene terephthalate.) #1 bottles
and #1 tubs are not recycled together. Another really striking
example (and something I often use in my classes) is
#6-polystyrene. Block foam or styrofoam is a #6, but so are Solo
party cups. Obviously, these types of plastics are very
different, even though they're both polystyrene. They cannot be
recycled together. Dear EarthTalk: Why can’t plastics of all
types, instead of being initially sorted, simply be melted
together to be separated later? It must be a monumental and
error-prone task to separate truckloads o