There has been a great deal of bad press lately about whether or not recycled plastics actually make it into the recycled waste stream. Whenever a batch of plastics become hopelessly contaminated with dirty or off-type plastics, it will end up in a landfill rather than being reborn as a recycled product.
That said, more often than not, plastics really do get recycled. Those items with the #2 designation according to the Resin Identification numbering system are the most widely accepted. Such plastics include the most commonly used types of soda pop or water bottles. Though plastics tend to pay a far lower rate per ton than other types of recyclables, often the price paid for other recycled materials is sufficient to subsidize plastics.
Perhaps of greater concern is the practice of sending plastic for recycling on long journeys to Asia, at significant fuel (and hence, carbon) costs that also bite into the overall energetic savings of recycling plastics.
