If something plastic has a little triangle with chasing arrows and a number inside, that means it’s recyclable, right?

Turns out, not necessarily. Those symbols are technically called Resin Identification Codes (RIC) and are not an indicator of recyclability-instead, they are used to sort materials from single-stream sources. Since RICs look like the original recycling symbol, many consumers assume the plastic item they put in their blue bins is being collected and used to make new stuff. The grim reality is recyclability varies, and some of the waste we could recycle into new materials won’t because it isn’t profitable.

Now, there’s a new bill making its way through the California State Senate about removing those deeply misleading arrows.