Recycling can be confusing enough as it is. To help, here's what those little numbers in recycling symbols actually mean.

Ever wonder what those small numbers on the bottom of your plastic bottles and takeout containers mean? They're called Resin Identification Codes. Follow BI Video: On Twitter More from Science ...

While single-stream recycling is convenient, it has downsides. Contamination, such as food residue, plastic bags and items that can’t be recycled, can degrade the quality of the remaining material, ...

The recycling symbol isn’t copyrighted, which means any plastic-producing company can slap it on their products, even if they aren’t recyclable. That piece of paper or plastic that we supposed ...

Using PET bottles to make recycled polyester produces 75% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, compared to making new PET. You can tell whether a piece of consumer plastic is PET by looking for a number “1 ...

while a similar one for glass bottles and jars met with a lower 86 percent level of recognition. The traditional Mobius strip “chasing arrows” recycling symbol was properly identified by 94 percent of ...

Some "people see the recycling symbol and assume or hope the item ... rinsing out and recycling that plastic juice bottle and simply tossing in with the rest of your household trash," Tom ...