Used Agricultural Plastics Sorted by Resin & Typical Level of Contamination

Illustration showing agricultural plastics products--for example, bale wrap, twine, irrigation pipe, drip tape, nursery pots, maple tubing, pesticide containers, feed bags, etc.--arrayed on a 'graph' by plastic resin (X-axis) and typical level of contamination (Y-axis). In this context 'contamination' refers to anything other than the plastic resin, i.e., soil, vegetative debris, chemical residues, moisture, and/or grit. Placement on the ‘clean-dirty’ continuum is approximate and variable. Recyclability improves by following Best Management Practices so that plastic is kept relatively clean, dry, and free of grit and gravel. Resins shown are the four most commonly used in agricultural production: HDPE (high density polyethylene, #2), (L)LDPE (low/linear low density polyethylene, #4), PP (polypropylene, #5), and PS (polystyrene, #6). Linear low and low density PE are most common