Plastic is very much essential to our modern way of life. It has been used in key industries and has been helpful in our household. We used plastics to store foods, serves as a storage cabinet. It also been used as containers to perfumes, shampoos, drinks, cooking oil; practically everything.
Helpful and useful it may be, plastic do pose a great danger especially to our environment. It is very much important that plastics must be recycled because most of it is non biodegradable.
The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. introduced the Plastic Identification Code (PIC). The PIC appears inside a three-chasing arrow recycling symbol. This symbols are being used to determine if the plastic can be recycled or not. It is very much important to understand what do the symbols mean to guide us in our usage of these plastics.
Below is the chart from wikipedia showing the different symbols and their codes:
| Plastic Identification Code | Type of plastic polymer | Properties | Common Packaging Applications |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET, PETE) | Clarity, strength, toughness, barrier to gas and moisture. | Soft drink, water and salad dressing bottles; peanut butter and jam jars |
 | High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) | Stiffness, strength, toughness, resistance to moisture, permeability to gas. | Milk, juice and water bottles; trash and retail bags. |
 | Polyvinyl Chloride (V) | Versatility, clarity, ease of blending, strength, toughness. | Juice bottles; cling films; PVC piping |
 | Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) | Ease of processing, strength, toughness, flexibility, ease of sealing, barrier to moisture. | Frozen food bags; squeezable bottles, e.g. honey, mustard; cling films; flexible container lids. |
 | Polypropylene (PP) | Strength, toughness, resistance to heat, chemicals, grease and oil, versatile, barrier to moisture. | Reusable microwaveable ware; kitchenware; yogurt containers; margarine tubs; microwaveable disposable take-away containers; disposable cups and plates. |
 | Polystyrene (PS) | Versatility, clarity, easily formed | Egg cartons; packing peanuts; disposable cups, plates, trays and cutlery; disposable take-away containers; |
 | Other (often polycarbonate or ABS) | Dependent on polymers or combination or polymers | Beverage bottles; baby milk bottles; electronic casing. |
