4 LDPE
The item is made of low-density polyethylene. The 4 and the letters LDPE identify the plastic for sorting.
- Material
- Low-density polyethylene
- Code
- 4 LDPE
- Family
- Plastics
- Defined by
- Decision 97/129/EC Annex I and ASTM D7611
Which bin, usually
Usually not the household recycling bin for bags and film: the US EPA says plastic bags, wraps and films 'cannot go in your household recycling bin' and that grocery and retail stores often take them; UK supermarkets have front-of-store collection points for soft plastics. Rigid LDPE items such as lids vary from place to place.
Whether this goes in your recycling depends on your local collection; check your council or municipality's sorting guide.
The material
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), the soft, stretchy polyethylene of bags and film.
Where you see it
Bags for frozen food, fresh produce and newspapers (ASTM's examples), bread bags, shrink wrap and pallet film, and squeezable lids and tubes.
What it does not mean
Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), common in stretch film, has no code of its own; ASTM's 2013 article records the committee discussing whether it needs one, so a 4 may cover either.
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
- LDPE under a 4 in a triangle of arrows
- 4 in a plain solid triangle (ASTM D7611 form)
- PE-LD, the international abbreviation
- 04 or LDPE 4
- >PE-LD< moulded into a part
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: Low density polyethylene, LDPE, 4) — 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) — 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 LDPE; PE-LD; the LLDPE question; The 2013 change from chasing arrows to a solid triangle) — checked 2026-09-23
- US EPA: How Do I Recycle Common Recyclables (Plastic bags, wraps and films) — checked 2026-09-23
- Worcestershire County Council: Recycling symbols explained (Film and bags taken back at large supermarkets) — 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
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.