Plastic Recycling numbers.... What do they mean?

1. Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET, PETE). PET is clear, tough, and has good gas and moisture barrier properties. Commonly used in soft drink bottles, shampoo bottles and many other injection molded consumer product containers. Other applications include strapping and both food and non-food containers. Cleaned, recycled PET flakes and pellets are in great demand for spinning fiber for carpet yarns, producing fiberfill and geo-textiles. See our range of PET bottle options click here
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2.  High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE is used to make bottles for milk, juice, water, personal care and laundry products. Unpigmented bottles are translucent, have good barrier properties especially for packaging many household and industrial chemicals such as detergents and bleach, however watch with essential oils as these can cause panelling or sucking in of the bottle. Pigmented HDPE bottles have better stress crack resistance than unpigmented HDPE bottles. Stiffness, strength, toughness, resistance to chemicals and moisture, permeability to gas, ease of processing, and ease of forming. Recycled HDPE can be used in pipe, buckets, crates, flower pots, garden edging, film and sheet, recycling bins, benches, dog houses, plastic lumber, floor tiles, picnic tables and fencing. See our range of HDPE bottle shapes click here
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3. Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC): In addition to its stable physical properties, PVC has excellent chemical resistance, good weatherability, flow characteristics and stable electrical properties. The diverse slate of vinyl products can be broadly divided into rigid and flexible materials. However is not processed in bottles as much these days due to the gasses and shelf life. Some countries refue PVC packaging. We do not offer PVC bottles in our range of products
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4. Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE).Used predominately squeezable bottles, e.g. honey, mustard or massage gels we also belnd with HDPE in flexible tubes. See our range of squeezable tubes
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5. Polypropylene (PP). Polypropylene has good chemical resistance, is strong, and has a high melting point making it good for hot-fill liquids. PP is found in flexible and rigid packaging to fibers and large molded parts for automotive and consumer products including most caps and closures. It recycles well into a number of garden products, crates etc. Also the main material used in pumps, sprays and caps see our range of pumps and sprays. 
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6. Polystyrene (PS). Polystyrene is a versatile plastic that can be rigid or foamed. General purpose polystyrene is clear, hard and brittle. It has a relatively low melting point. Not widely used in the personal care market due to its low resistence to chemicals and essential oils although sometimes used in small cosmetic jars.
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7. Other. Use of this code indicates that the package in question is made with a resin other than the six listed above (like acrylic or Polycarbonate), or is made of more than one resin listed above, and used in a multi-layer combination. This is one to seriously consider not using if the packaging is used on a baby product, there has been a lot in the media regarding bishenol A and the health side effects. It is best to check with us on the BPA content if this is the type of packaging you are looking at.