The number 7 What does the number 7 mean? In 1988, the plastic materials industry created a 7-figure encoding system (the "Resin identification code"), allowing for the identification of materials with the specific aim of enabling easier separation for recycling. The symbol used for this code system is a triangle created from arrows in a clockwise direction, containing a number; each number corresponds to a material or a specific group of materials. Thus, recyclable plastic materials are today coded from 1 to 7 as follows: Code 1: PET (polyethylene terephthalate) Code 2: HDPE (high density polyethylene) Code 3: PVC (polyvinylchloride) Code 4: LDPE (low density polyethylene) Code 5: PP (polypropylene) Code 6: PS (polystyrene) Code 7: other plastics including polycarbonate, acrylic, liquid crystal polymers (LCP) and nylon. Code 7 is not, therefore, under any circumstances an indicator of the danger level of a material. It simply indicates that a material is manufactured in a resin other than the 6 coded from 1 to 6, or, importantly, using several resins (in multilayers). Additionally, because most Tupperware products come with a lifetime guarantee, the intent is not to recycle, but reuse. More generally, why do certain Tupperware products not bear this marking? True to its promise, Tupperware has chosen, on its own initiative, to ensure that all molds where it is possible would be updated. It is only on some few molds that we have not been able to accomplish this due to technical limitation (space issue mainly).
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