Comments bryano has made

Prevalent Perplexing Plastics

I'm generally happy to see any clarification within this whole category of myths we live by. After today's article, though, I was less sure of some things I've learned in the not-so-distant past.

First, I was thrown by the parenthetical, "I should note that Nalgene makes bottles from other, less-yucky types of plastic."  I, and I'm sure many other daily Grist readers, read this to mean that ubiquitous brightly colored bottles aren't bisphenol-A leaching afterall. Only when I followed the link did it appear that they are. I have an ancient #2 Nalgene bottle, but haven't seen one like it in a store for years.

2nd, "The only thing we know for sure about your particular polycarbonate bottle is that you are going to chuck it into the recycling bin and find a new water-carrying device."  This confuses me since as far as I know polycarbonate plastic isn't generally recycled--or more precisely, "downcycled," as nicely clarified in the Nalgene-related link.

In that column, "Nalgene Therapy" 1/10/05, you noted, "I wouldn't seek out #1 for those plastic-necessitating moments -- #2, #4, and #5 are better."  I'm not clear on why this is so. The little "recycling" symbol is deceptive since it classifies type and not recyclability. Many products with a #2, for example yogurt containers, aren't "recyclable" like their milk bottle cousins because hardening agents and/or dyes have been added.

So, here's the question for you, coming from someone who no longer feels so secure in his knowledge of recycling (beyond that it comes in third, after reduce and reuse):  What actually becomes of the millions of tons of #s 1, 2, 4, and 5 we dutifully chuck into "recycle" bins everyday?
On Umbra on aluminum bottles posted 2 years, 7 months ago 7 Responses