The Association does not accept all plastic containers because our markets don't.

Plastic containers are the newest commodity to be recycled and the most difficult to understand. They are the newest because the plastic recycling industry in only a couple of decades old while the paper and metal recycling industry has been around for centuries. The most difficult because of the wide variety of plastic available.

In the late 80's there were over 46,000 different types of plastics with that number growing everyday as researchers discovered new ways to make plastics or additives to give them new properties. For that reason alone the plastic industry developed a coding system that identifies whichtype of plastic a container may be made of. The system uses the numbers 1 through 7 inside of a mobius loop to identify the six main types of plastic with number 7 being all others. The coding system is very useful in identifying the type of plastic a container is made of but it is often confused by consumers as meaning that a container is recyclable. The Association only accepts plastic bottles and containers that have established long term markets.