Can You Recycle Eco-Products? Ultimate Explanation

Eco Products is a popular brand in the USA and they are well-known for their closed-loop recycling program. As the name of the organization “Eco Product” refers to eco-friendly products, a common question has been raised – can you recycle eco products?

You cannot recycle the products from Eco Products. They generally produce two types of products – renewable and recycled. And these products cannot be recycled in all places in the U.S.

In this article, we will explain which eco products can be recycled and which aren’t. And will also provide some exclusive information about Eco Products that you may never have heard before. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s explore them below.

What Does Eco Products Mean?

Eco products, also known as environmentally friendly or green products. It started long ago, around 1690 when Americans started recycling products in Philadelphia; since then, people understood the value of repurposing valuable materials.

Eco Products also think same that recycling is better than throwing materials into landfills. However, they made products from renewable resources, biodegradable materials, or recycled content. So, around 33% of their waste is recycled and the rest is either composted or incinerated.

There are two types of Eco Products that are marked with green stripes and blue stripes. Here are the differences between them:

Factors	GreenStripe	BlueStripe
Example
Meaning	Renewable.	Recycled.
Made From	Renewable plant materials.	Post-consumer recycled materials.
Benefit	products are compostable and can be returned to the soil to help plants grow.	New products from recycled materials help recycling markets to grow.
Drawback	Not suitable for backyard composting.	Not recyclable in a majority of communities.

Now, let’s move to our main point below.

Can You Recycle Eco Products?

So, The short answer is – Probably Not. As we already mentioned Eco Products has 2 lines of products– GreenStripe and BlueStripe. 

Most of the Eco Products are GreenStripe items that are made with renewable resources and can be renewable. You can dispose of them in a commercial compost facility instead of a landfill. In this way, they can return to the soil as compost.

BlurStrips™, on the other hand, are made with recycled content materials like post-consumer recycled PET plastic, polystyrene, or fiber. But unfortunately, very few places in the US recycle these materials. So, you may find it hard to recycle these products.

Are BlueStrip Eco Products Recyclable?

As BlueStrips from Eco Products are marked that they are recycled, you may think that BlueStrip products are recyclable too. Well, Recyclable and recycled aren’t the same thing.

The Eco-Products’ BlueStripe™ products are made from post-consumer recycled-content materials. For this, they are not recyclable most of the time but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t recyclable at all.

Again, everyone cannot recycle the Eco Product even if it is a BlueStripe. It’s because the recyclability of eco products also depends on the infrastructure and capabilities of local recycling programs.

For instance, recycling these products may require industrial composting facilities to break down properly. So, until the proper facility isn’t used, you cannot recycle Eco Products. Some recycling industries accept PLA or PE products. Here you can recycle some Eco Products including PCF hot cups, GreenStripe hot cups, world Art hot cups, and rPET cold cups.

Recycling Process of Eco Products

Reusable GreenStripe products like PLA plastic, and thin plastic bags are nearly impossible for most MRFs to handle as they are compostable. So, only recyclable products can be recycled.

Eco-Products buys recycled paper, PET, and PS plastic resins and makes new products like cups, containers, cutlery, and lids. They mark these products as their BlueStripe™ product. The recycling process for these products goes through several steps. Here are they:

First, you have to put the recyclable items in your bins. You need to be careful choosing the right bin as some cities require separate materials like glass, paper, or plastic while others require a single stream.

Second, a “hauler” will collect the items from dumpsters and deliver them to an “MRF”.

Third, the delivered materials will be sorted out and organized into bales by the type of those individual materials at the MRF.

Fourth, once the materials are baled at MRF, they are sold to brokers. There the manufacturers recycle them back into new materials.

In this way, you can buy BlueStripe items or recycled content plastic products from Eco-Products and then you can turn them back into new products.

Bonus Tip: Plastic Resin Codes

If you want to know which Eco Products are recyclable, you can easily identify them by observing the symbol on the bottom of the plastic product. Here are the types of symbols you can find:

However, if you find one of these symbols, it doesn’t mean that the product is recyclable. These numbers (1 to 7) refer to resin identification codes provided by the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI). These codes help to sort the plastics by resin.

Products with certain resin codes are supported by MRF. If any of these codes aren’t supported by the MRF, they cannot be recycled.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions and Answers)

Are Eco Boxes Recyclable?

No, eco boxes from Eco Products aren’t recyclable in most cases. They are either made from renewable or recycled materials.

Can You Recycle Biodegradable Products?

Certain logos claim that biodegradable plastics can be recycled, but the lack of widely available recycling facilities can lead to confusion. Biodegradable products can decompose and go back to the soil as compost. Hence, they aren’t recycled.

What Materials Cannot Be Recycled?

The GreenStripe line cups by Eco-Products are composted commercially after being used and they cannot be recycled. Just like the other materials including garbage, food waste, paper boxes, paper towels, ceramics and kitchenware, windows and mirrors, plastic wrap, packing peanuts and bubble wrap, and wax boxes that cannot be recycled.

Are Eco-Products Compostable?

No, all the Eco Products aren’t compostable. Only the GreenStripe line of Eco Products are compostable as they are made from renewable materials.

Conclusion

To conclude, you can recycle only a few items of Eco Products as most of them aren’t recyclable. You might think if they aren’t recyclable, then how can they be Eco-Products? Well, the answer is simple, they make products from degradable materials and recycled materials. Whether you can recycle the Eco product depends on whether the MRF can sort it or not by the resin number given on the bottom of the products. We hope you’ve found this article helpful. If you have any further queries, leave a comment in the comment section below. Thanks for reading.