The number in the triangle is a material code, not a promise
That little recycling-triangle number on the bottom of a bottle tells you which of seven plastic categories it belongs to — it doesn’t mean your local system actually recycles that type, which is worth checking separately.
- 1 — PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate): water bottles, cooking oil bottles — one of the most widely recycled plastics.
- 2 — HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene): shampoo and cleanser bottles, bags, bins — also widely accepted.
- 3 — PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride): pipes, wire insulation — rarely recyclable through standard programs.
- 4 — LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene): squeeze bags, frozen food film.
- 5 — PP (Polypropylene): bottle caps, some jars — increasingly accepted.
- 6 — PS (Polystyrene): cups, some clamshell packaging — rarely recyclable.
- 7 — Other: mixed or specialty plastics, case-by-case.
The packaging that looks eco but isn’t
A paper tube with a thin inner plastic lining can’t be separated back into paper and plastic — which can make it worse for recycling than a plain, honestly-labelled plastic bottle would have been. The same goes for a pump head that fuses plastic with a metal spring: harder to sort than either material alone. None of this means sustainability claims are worthless, but it does mean “feels eco” and “is actually recyclable” aren’t the same test.
The easiest habit that actually helps
Favour packaging made from a single material — an all-glass jar or an all-one-plastic-type bottle — over multi-material designs, since single-material packaging is what most local recycling systems can actually process. Rinsing residue out before recycling helps too; contaminated containers are one of the more common reasons a technically-recyclable item still ends up in landfill.
Where to take it in Thailand
Beyond household collection, community recycling initiatives — among them Precious Plastic Bangkok, Wake Up Waste, and Recycle Day Thailand — accept sorted plastics and are worth following on Facebook for their current drop-off points and schedules.
