They're big and bulky, and they take a lot of space in the landfill. That's the bad news. The good news is that milk jugs can be recycled. Milk jugs are made with high density polyethelyne, known as HDPE. Nearly all plastics are marked with a numeric code inside the recycling, three-arrow logo. HDPE products are designated with a "2."
Collect
The first step in the process of recycling milk jugs is to divert the used ones from the solid waste stream. Many communities provide curbside pickup of recyclable materials including glass, aluminum, newspaper and plastics. While not all plastics are accepted, most will collect those designated as "1's," which are PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, like soda bottles, and "2's" like milk jugs. If your community does not provide curbside pickup, check for a local drop off center. Nearly all will accept milk jugs and other HDPE plastic products for recycling.
To the MRF
Once milk jugs are collected, they're sent to a materials recovery facility, or MRF--pronounced "murf." At the MRF, commingled recyclable materials are separated by type. Large MRFs use single-stream recycling, which eliminates your need to separate your recyclable materials. Paper and cardboard, glass, aluminum, tin and different types of plastics are sorted automatically. In large cities, MRFs are designed to process over 1,000 tons of recycled materials every day.
To the Reclaimer
Once plastic milk jugs and other recyclable plastics are sorted, they're baled by type and sent to a reclaimer. At the reclaimer, the plastic passes over a shaker screen to remove dirt and debris. After that, it's washed and ground. The flakes are then put into a flotation tank. Because different polymers used to make plastic have different densities, some float and some sink. The PET plastic flakes are heavier and sink to the bottom while the HDPE flakes float to the top and are skimmed off. After HDPE flakes are skimmed and dried, they are formed into pellets and shipped to a plastics manufacturer as a raw material. The manufacturer uses the pellets from recycled milk jugs to produce new products.
New Products
Recycled HDPE plastic is not typically made into milk jugs again. Instead, it is used to create bottles for non-food items like shampoos, detergents, motor oil and antifreeze, and household cleaners. It is also used to manufacture plastic construction products like decking, pipes, fencing and gutters. Recycled milk jugs can also be turned into floor tiles, flower pots and even recycling bins.
Final Step
The final step in the recycling process rests with you, the consumer. In order to make the recycling process work efficiently, there must be a need for recycled materials like plastics. The greater the demand, the greater is manufacturers' need for recycled materials.
One way to create that demand is to buy plastic products that are made from recycled materials. A quick check of the labels on the products you buy will indicate whether or not it was made with post-consumer waste and what percentage. So when you buy a bottle of detergent, check the label. If it lists "made with post-consumer waste," there's a good chance it used to be your milk jug.
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