Plastic Recycling Facts

By now we have all heard not to drink water out of plastic bottles, but instead use a reusable bottle, or drink from a glass, but in case you were not aware of how great an impact recycling plastic can have on the environment, check out the facts below.

• According to the Beverage Marketing Corp, the average American consumed 1.6 gallons of bottled water in 1976. In 2006 that number jumped to 28.3 gallons.

• Today, 80 percent of Americans have access to a plastics recycling program.

• More than 2.3 billion pounds of plastic bottles were recycled in 2007. Although the amount of plastic bottles recycled in the U.S. has grown every year since 1990, the actual recycling rate remains steady at around 24 percent.

• In 2007, more than 325 million pounds of wide-mouth plastic containers were recovered for recycling. (This included deli containers, yogurt cups, etc.)

• In recent years, the number of U.S. plastics recycling business has nearly tripled. More than 1,600 businesses are involved in recycling post-consumer plastics.

• Plastics in the U.S. are made primarily (70 percent) from domestic natural gas.

• Plastic bags and product wraps (known collectively as “plastic film”) are commonly recycled at the many collection programs offered through major grocery stores.

• Recycling one ton of plastic saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space.

• During Keep America Beautiful’s 2008 Great American Cleanup, volunteers recovered and recycled 189,000,000 PET (plastic) bottles that had been littered along highways, waterways and parks.