Plastic Number 7

Plastic number 7 is known as "other."  The reason it is "other" is that it is any plastic or combination of plastics that doesn't fit in with any of the "regular" plastics, plastics 1 through 6.  Plastics 1 through 6 may vary in how safe they claim to be or whether they leach or not but the one thing you know for sure is what it actually is.  Plastic number 7 is all the other hot garbage that doesn't fit into a nice neat category.  Plastic number 7 could also be a bio-based plastic that was made from a renewable resource but you have to know what to look for.  Let's explore.

Plastic number 7 could be acrylic, nylon, polycarbonate, polylactic acid, fiberglass, or other type of plastic.  Something labeled as plastic number 7 could be a combination of any variety of plastic in multiple layers.  Plastic number 7 has great concern for leaching and therefore is not recommended for reuse, for feeding children, or consuming warm or hot foods.  Keeping this point in mind, plastic number 7 is frequently used to produce baby bottles, sippy cups, water cooler bottles, disposable food and drink containers, and things like car parts.  Plastic number 7 is commonly made with BPA and/or BPS.  Readers of this blog know that BPA and BPS are bisphenols and bisphenols are chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system leading to endocrine-related maladies.  Products that contain these toxic bisphenols may be marked on the bottoms with PC.  PC stands for polycarbonate.  Polycarbonates are thermoplastic polymers that contain carbonates which make a very strong product that is used in a variety of applications.  

Plastic number 7 could be a bio-based plastic that is made from corn starch, corn, potato, vegetable oil, or sugar.  Some bio-based plastics say that they can be composted and may have PLA marked on the bottom to indicate this.  These plastics usually cannot be composted in a backyard composter as they often require higher heat that only commercial composting can reach.  

Try to avoid anything that is plastic number 7 that is not a bio-based plastic.  If you live in an area that has commercial composting then make sure to compost any of your plastics marked PLA.  Don't try to recycle bio-based plastics because they can't be recycled and can interfere with the recycling of traditional plastic.   Try to use reusable containers whenever possible and try to reduce plastic use of any kind whenever possible.