5 PP
The item is made of polypropylene. The 5 and the letters PP identify the plastic so that it can be sorted with other PP.
- Material
- Polypropylene
- Code
- 5 PP
- Family
- Plastics
- Defined by
- Decision 97/129/EC Annex I and ASTM D7611
Which bin, usually
Usually the household plastics or mixed-recycling bin for rigid pots, tubs and trays, in the places that collect them. PP film, such as crisp packets, usually does not go in the household bin; in the UK some supermarkets take it back with other soft plastics.
Whether this goes in your recycling depends on your local collection; check your council or municipality's sorting guide.
The material
Polypropylene (PP), a tough plastic that stands up to heat, used for pots, tubs and caps.
Where you see it
Yogurt pots and containers for takeaway meals and deli foods (ASTM's examples), margarine tubs, microwave trays, bottle caps and many hinged lids; thin PP film is used for crisp and snack packets.
What it does not mean
A 5 on a pot says nothing about its lid or film seal, which may be a different plastic with its own code, or none.
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
- PP under a 5 in a triangle of arrows
- 5 in a plain solid triangle (ASTM D7611 form)
- 05, PP5 or PP 05
- >PP< 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: Polypropylene, PP, 5) — 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 PP; The 2013 change from chasing arrows to a solid triangle) — checked 2026-09-23
- Worcestershire County Council: Recycling symbols explained (Soft plastics 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.