Do you know what the icons that appear on the plastic packaging of the products we consume mean? Many of us don’t pay attention to those peculiar triangular symbols that are marked with a number on the back of our plastic packaging. What’s more, we don’t even notice when a company omits this signaling or does it incorrectly.
Each plastic that falls into our hands has a specific type of composition. This is represented by a specific symbol that must be marked on our packaging so that we know how to dispose of them properly. For example, a PEAD plastic cannot be recycled the same as a PVC. Not all plastics are recycled in the same way, for this, industries must be held responsible for what happens to their products after they are used.
There are also countries that don’t have facilities to properly dispose of all types of plastic. For this reason, today we want to inform you about what types of plastic are recyclable in our country, Peru. It’s important that we all know that everything changes according to the location in which we are located and that for this reason some materials are recycled in other countries, but not necessarily where we are, and this may also vary according to the province in which we meet.
In addition, it’s also relevant to know that we’ll not always find these symbols on all our packaging since in Peru it isn’t mandatory for companies to put this information on their packaging. Those that place them, usually do so voluntarily or because their products are imported and come with signs from foreign countries, which is confusing for consumers.
These are the 4 types of recyclable plastics in Peru:
- PET: This plastic is found in water and soda bottles, also in fruit, cheese, and meat trays.
- PEAD: Protagonist in our shampoo bottles, cosmetics, and other cleaning products.
- PEBD: Bags of rice, plastic wrap, and other plastics of expandable consistency, such as packages of sanitary towels.
- PP: This can be found in bottle caps, white yogurt bottles, and in our plastic butter packaging.
These types of plastic can be taken to the collection points that are scattered in the capital and in the provinces. Ideally, we should inform ourselves about the recycling plan in our municipality in order to be able to dock with it or, if there is none, deposit our plastics in the designated garbage cans in shopping centers or those found in supermarkets.