On a recent family bike ride we rode on a couple back roads
that were sadly littered with so much trash, mostly consisting of water and
various alcohol bottles.
According to treehugger.com and banthebottle.net, approximately
50 billion water bottles were sold last year in the United States alone, with
almost 200 billion being produced each year worldwide.
This should be a veritable goldmine for recycling centers to
receive a highly valued commodity that can be used as feedstock for new plastic
products. In reality, however, it is estimated that over 80% of all water
bottles sold end up as litter or are sent to the landfill as trash.
During the 2014 Keep America Beautiful Great American
Cleanup, 93 million polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) were recovered and recycled. PET plastic is most commonly
water and beverage bottles.
Although
waster bottles aren’t touted as being the most littered item, it seems to be
close to the top of the list. If you are a regular consumer of bottled water,
consider an alternative to buying new bottles, such as refilling ones you
already have or purchasing a decorative bottle to refill and eliminate
purchasing bottled water altogether.
For more
information on recyclable items visit www.wasteawaygroup.com.
banthebottle.net
plasticwastesolutions.com
treehugger.com
issuu.com
kab.org
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