Plastic #1, also known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), is a type of plastic commonly used in the production of beverage containers such as water bottles, soda bottles, and juice containers. 

Quite often, when a plastic is rigid and see-through, it is PET. PET is sometimes opaque and coloured, but this is less common..

While most types of plastic are not actually recycled, PET water bottles often are. It is definitely worthwhile trying to recycle clear PET plastic bottles. 

When PET is bad…

Occasionally you may also find vitamins in dark #1 PET bottles.  For instance the brand Optimum Nutrition uses this for many of its products.

While coloured PET is theoretically recyclable,  it is virtually never recycled in practice because it is technically challenging to sort and process. It just costs too much to recycle it.

For such containers, we recommend that you find alternative uses for them or throw them in the trash. They will not be recycled if you put them in a recycling bin.