16th October 2018 4:34 pm

Plastics explained

Material		Common name	Origin	Regarded as bio degradable?	How long would it take to biodegrade in landfill	Used for clothing?	Plastic code Recyclable? *Reusable?	Common usage
Cotton			Plant	Yes	3-6 months	Yes
Wool, silk			Animal	Yes	1-5 years	Yes
Bamboo, jute, hemp			Plant	Yes	6 months -5 years	Yes
Regenerated protein fibre			Corn, Soy, milk	Yes	6 months -5 years	Yes
Regenerated cellulose fibre		Rayon, Viscose, Lyocell	Plant (Wood pulp)	Yes	3-12 months	Yes
Cellulose Acetate	CA		Plant (Wood pulp)	No	Several years	Yes
Polyethylene terephthalate	PET	polyester	Crude oil	No	Hundreds of years	Yes	1 Yes No
Polyamide	PA	Nylon	Crude oil,	No	Hundreds of years	Yes
Polyurethane fibre		Elastane, Lycra, Spandex	Crude ol	no	Hundreds of years	Yes
Polyvinyl chloride	PVC		Crude oil	No	Hundreds of years	Yes	3 No No	Flexible plastic eg food wrapping, window frames
Acrylic			Crude oil	No	Hundreds of years	Yes
High-density Polyethylene	HDPE		Crude oil	No	Hundreds of years	No	2 Yes Yes	Hard plastic Eg toys, waste bins
Low-density Polyethylene	LDPE		Crude oil	No	Hundreds of years	No	4 No Yes	Shrink wrap, grocery bags
Polypropylene	PP		Crude oil	No	Hundreds of years	No	5 Sometimes Sometimes	Moisture and grease proof packaging
Polystyrene	PS		Crude oil	No	Hundreds of years	No	6 No No	Lightweight containers and fillers
Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene	ABS		Crude oil	No	Hundreds of years	No
Polytetrafluoroethylene	PTFE		Crude oil	No	Hundreds of years	No
Polycarbonate of bisphenol A	PC	Polycarbonate	Crude oil	No	Hundreds of years	No
Polymethyl methacrylate	PMMA		Crude oil	no	Hundreds of years	No

Stephanie Matthews 2018

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