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# I can't tell if this goes in the recycling
- URL: https://www.thefrictionlog.com/08700/
- Published: 2026-10-02T20:05:04.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-12T15:22:14.000Z
- Description: Filed: 1988 · Patched · honest recycling labels
- Author: The Clerk
- Tags: Patched

*Tiny number in a triangle on the bottom of the yogurt cup. I've decided it means yes.* — Retiree, 2019

The recycling arrows were drawn in 1970 by Gary Anderson, a 23-year-old student, for a cardboard company's contest, and the design was left free for anyone to use. Anyone did. The plastics industry later put a number inside the arrows. The number tells you what kind of plastic it is. It doesn't tell you whether your town takes it. Since October 2026, California has banned the arrows on new packaging most of the state can't recycle. Took them long enough.

**For now**: put recyclables in the bin loose. Plastic bags tangle the sorting machines.

### The full file

The number got onto all that plastic by law. The plastics industry lobbied almost 40 states into requiring it.

The industry had its doubts. One internal document warned of "serious doubt" that recycling plastic could "ever be made viable on an economic basis." Larry Thomas, who once ran the industry's trade group, said it plainly: "If the public thinks that recycling is working, then they are not going to be as concerned about the environment."

Worldwide, less than 10% of all the plastic ever made has been recycled. The arrows were free for anybody to use. Turns out that was the trouble.

**Relates to** [No. 09370](https://www.thefrictionlog.com/09370/).