Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Have you ever wondered about the chemical composition of plastic or what it is made of? Here's a look a what plastic is and how it is formed.  

Q.  What is Plastic?

A.  Plastic is any synthetic or semi-synthetic organic polymer. While plastics may be made from just about any organic polymer, most industrial plastic is made from petrochemicals. Thermoplastics and thermosetting polymers are the two types of plastic.

Many consumer products, such as water bottle and product containers, are made from various types of plastic. The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) established a classification system in 1988 to allow consumers and recyclers to properly recycle and dispose of different types of plastic. Manufacturers follow a coding system and place an SPI code, or number, on each plastic product, which is usually moulded into the bottom. Although you should always verify the plastic classification numbers of each product you use, this guide provides a basic outline of the different plastic types associated with each code number.


I want you to be educated about this stuff and so has created this guide to the 7 types of plastic and what they mean to your health. Many recycling programs depend on these numbers to tell which plastics are recyclable and which are not – you can also use these numbers to determine which are safe to use and which are not.