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I hope these containers weren't/aren't labeled with a #2 recycle code. > The company claims the resulting containers are fully recyclable. But crap, they prob
by anonymouskimmer 3y ago
I hope these containers weren't/aren't labeled with a #2 recycle code.
> The company claims the resulting containers are fully recyclable.
But crap, they probably are. Which means everyone using recycled HDPE is potentially exposed to PFAS leachates as well.
> EPA’s order that it has modified its fluorination process over the past 2 years, resulting in a more-than-90% decrease in PFAS impurities. PFAS are undetectable in nearly all of its fluorinated plastic packaging, the company says.
But are they undetectable following the recycling process? Are new PFAS impurities formed in this process?
- lozenge 3y agoYou mean the resin identification code? Which has nothing to do with recyclability, despite its shape.
- anonymouskimmer 3y agoMaybe not, but people use it to know what to recycle and what to toss. At least some people do.
- alwa 3y agoFortunately even the plastic those people designate for recycling is not in fact recycled in the overwhelming number of cases ([0] cites a rate of ~8% dropping to ~5% in 2021). (/s? I think? I don’t know, this whole domain of waste stream problems seems like bouncing from one sad state of affairs to another) Adorably, we count exporting the plastics to dump in third countries as “recycling” it, including it as part of that single-digit figure. [0] [PDF] https://www.lastbeachcleanup.org/_files/ugd/dba7d7_9450ed6b848d4db098de1090df1f9e99.pdf https://www.lastbeachcleanup.org/_files/ugd/dba7d7_9450ed6b8...
- tarikjn 3y agofun tidbit: the standard was updated in 2013 to replace the chasing arrows with a triangle because of this