The recognizable chasing arrows icon could be doing more harm than good—so the EPA wants to toss it.
a comment about the Green Guides. According to the agency, the use of the resin identification code with the recycling symbol—the familiar three chasing arrows—constitutes a misrepresentation of claims. Even though the RIC is meant to identify a product’s unique plastic resin type, consumers generally understand it to represent a universal recycling symbol.
“When the plastic industry co-opted the recycling symbol to label their plastic resins, they began a decades-long misinformation campaign to convince Americans that all plastic packaging is recyclable,” says Martin Bourque, executive director of the Ecology Center and co-founder of the Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers . “Nothing could be farther from the truth.”
The RIC refers to the type of plastic of which there are seven in total. However, “very little plastic packaging is even marginally recyclable,” says Bourque. According to Greenpeace, only polyethylene terephthalate #1 and high-density polyethylene #2as recyclable materials. They are the only types of plastic resin widely accepted by more than 350 material recovery facilities across the country.
Recycling contamination occurs when recyclable items are placed in the wrong bins or non-recyclable items end up in the recycling system. Local governments and MRFs
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