Plastic Recycling Codes – What do they mean?

The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary has recycling programs for some types of plastic. We are pleased that our contractors have been able to establish relationships with processors that allow residents to recycle more types of plastics than any other regional district in B.C.

However not all plastics are easily recyclable. In Western Canada there are no processors who remanufacture styrofoam or ‘breakable’ plastics. Both these types of plastics are contaminants in our system and reduce the value of all the gathered material.

The RDKB administers two distinct recycling systems in the region:

The recycling materials collected in the RDKB’s recycling program become the property and responsibility of the processors to market to offset the cost of the collection program.

The RDKB urges residents to attempt to only recycle the types of plastics listed below. Any other materials that are deposited in the system become an impurity which detracts from the success of the program.

Check the bottom of your container for the following symbols. Any plastics that do not have the symbol may contain compounds that do not belong in our present program.

The following symbols and the numbers identify the type of resin used in the plastic. Only the following plastics are accepted in the RDKB’s program.

Symbol	Uses	Accepted in Greater Trail area	Accepted in the Boundary
PETE or PET - Polyethylene Terephthalate	Soft drink and water bottles, mouthwash, soft foods ‘Poly’ can be recycled into carpet yarn and fabric	YES	YES
HDPE or PE-HD - High Density Polyethylene	Soft drink and water bottles, milk jugs , detergent, bleach, shampoo, yogurt and vinegar containers HDPE can be recycled into non-food containers	YES	YES
PVC - Poly Vinyl Chloride	clear containers such as glass cleaner bottles, shampoo, cooking oil PVC can be recycled into industrial plastics NOTE: Industrial PVC is not part of the RDKB’s recycling program	YES	YES
LDPE - Low Density polyethylene	Squeezable bottles, grocery bags, produce bags, bread bags and food wrap. LDPE can be recycled into garbage bags, furniture, garbage cans NOTE: plastic bags are not accepted in the Blue BOX program in Greater Trail	NO (Safeway Trail  has a in-store plastic bag collection program)	YES
PP - polypropylene	Often used in plastic containers that will be heated such as coffee cups, also straws, medicine bottles, shampoo, ketchup and many caps. PP can be recycled into bottle caps, rakes, pallets, and bins.	YES	YES
PS – Polystyrene	Drink cups, picnic ware, plastic plates and utensils PS can be recycled into foam packaging	YES	YES
Other resins	Larger water bottles and composite lumber	YES	YES