1 PET
The item is made of PET plastic. The 1 in the triangle and the letters PET under it identify the plastic so that a sorting line or a person can put it with other PET.
- Material
- Polyethylene terephthalate
- Code
- 1 PET
- Family
- Plastics
- Defined by
- Decision 97/129/EC Annex I and ASTM D7611
Which bin, usually
Usually the household plastics or mixed-recycling bin when it is a bottle; the US EPA's guidance takes plastic bottles with caps and labels left on. PET trays and punnets are the same plastic but a different shape, and some collections that take PET bottles still turn them away.
Whether this goes in your recycling depends on your local collection; check your council or municipality's sorting guide.
The material
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the clear, stiff polyester used for drinks bottles.
Where you see it
Clear bottles for water, soft drinks, juice and beer, and jars for foods such as peanut butter and pickles (ASTM's own examples); also clear fruit punnets, salad trays and clamshells.
What it does not mean
Not every PET item is treated like a PET bottle. A 1 on a tray says the same plastic as a bottle, not the same acceptance.
A resin code names the plastic; it is not a recycling promise. ASTM D7611 says resin identification codes 'are not “recycle codes”' and that using one 'does not imply that the article is recycled or that there are systems in place' to process it. That is why the 2013 revision of D7611 replaced the chasing arrows with a plain solid triangle, 'commonly associated with recycling' as the arrows were. In the US the FTC treats a code as a recyclable claim only when it is shown conspicuously, next to the product name; moulded into the base 'without more', it is not one (16 CFR 260.12, Example 2).
Other ways it is printed
- PET under a 1 in a triangle of arrows (the usual print)
- 1 in a plain solid triangle (the ASTM D7611 form since 2013)
- PETE, the older US spelling
- 01 or PET 1
- >PET< moulded into a part, the angle-bracket style used on plastic components
Other plastics codes
Sources
- Commission Decision 97/129/EC of 28 January 1997 establishing the identification system for packaging materials (OJ L 50, 20.2.1997), as adopted — UK National Archives copy (Annex I: Polyethylene terephthalate, PET, 1) — checked 2026-09-23
- ASTM D7611/D7611M-26, Standard Practice for Coding Plastic Manufactured Articles for Resin Identification — catalogue page (scope, significance and use) (Section 4.2: resin identification codes are not recycle codes; Section 4.2) — checked 2026-09-23
- ASTM Standardization News, 2013: Modernizing the Resin Identification Code (the solid-triangle revision, and what each resin is used for) (Uses of PET bottles and jars; the 2013 triangle change; The 2013 change from chasing arrows to a solid triangle) — checked 2026-09-23
- 16 CFR 260.12 Recyclable claims (US FTC Green Guides), eCFR (Example 2: when a resin code counts as a recyclable claim) — checked 2026-09-23
- US EPA: How Do I Recycle Common Recyclables (Can plastic bottles and caps be recycled?) — checked 2026-09-23
Written in our own words from these public texts and checked on the date shown. ASTM D7611 and ISO 14021 are sold by their publishers; only their public catalogue text is used here.