Plastic Recycling

The following information came from www.earth911.org.
While there are seven different forms of plastic that can be recycled, most beverage containers will fall in the Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) category, marked with a #1 recycling label.
The pages below will teach you everything you need to know about recycling plastic bottles. Plastic bottle recycling is the least utilized beverage container recycling service, according to the Container Recycling Institute, so it is imperative that we all do our part to keep these plastic bottles out of landfills.
Plastic Bottle Recycling Facts
In 2006, Americans drank about 167 bottles of water each, but only recycled an average of 38 bottles per person, which equals about 50 billion plastic bottles consumed, with only 23% being recycled. That leaves 38 billion water bottles in landfills.
According to the Beverage Marketing Corp, the average American consumed 1.6 gallons of bottled water in 1976. In 2006 each person consumed 28.3 gallons of bottled water.
In 2006 we spent $15 billion on bottled water. That’s more than we spent on iPods or movie tickets. We will spend $16 billion in 2007.
31% of soda bottles were recycled in 2002, BUT we only recycled 11% of water bottles.
Bottled water costs between $1 and $4 per gallon and 90% of the cost is in the bottle, lid and label.
Plastic bottles go to landfills and take 700 years before they start to decompose.
Manufacturing bottled water uses over 1.5 million barrels of oil per year. In one year, that’s enough oil to fuel 100,000 cars.
Plastic bottles can be recycled into: rugs, swimming goggles, dog bowls, back packs, skateboard wheels, and ski jackets. For a very extensive list of what products can be made from recycled plastic bottles check out this website.
Plastic bottles are very fashionable: about five plastic bottles produce enough fiber filling for a ski coat, 25 recycled bottles can make a fleece coat, and it takes 26 bottles to make a polyester suit.
It takes 14, 20-ounce PET bottles to produce one Extra Large T-shirt.
Amazing Recycled melts plastic and whips it in an electric mixer, making a foam. The foam is spun into fibers. They take the fibers, mix it with cotton and make white T-shirts that are 50% cotton/50% soda bottles.
Made from recycled plastic, the nails and screws in plastic lumber hold better than wood for at least 50 years.
In New Baltimore, NY, the first recycled-plastic bridge made from 68,000 recycled milk jugs mixed with fiberglass is strong enough to hold cars. Plastic Lumber Corp. in Chicago supplied the plastic lumber for the 30-foot long bridge.
8 out of 10 plastic water bottles become landfill waste.
Take the ‘refill not landfill‘ pledge. If everyone in NYC gave up water bottles for one week they would save 24 million bottles from going into the landfill, if they gave up water bottles for one month they save 112 million bottles from going into the landfill and if they give up water bottles for one year they save 1.328 billion bottles from going into the landfill.
Factoring in packaging and transportation, drinking bottled water costs up to five times more than putting gas in your car.
A one liter soda bottle can be recycled and manufactured as a ruler.
The filling for one sleeping bag could be made from 85 20-ounce soda bottles.
Plastic bottles are cleaned and chopped into chips, heated and turned into tiny white pellets. Sold alongside Virgin PET, recycled PET is a super hot item, with 40% of sales going to the Chinese.
Sources:
http://www.recycleitnow.net
http://filterforgood.com
http://www.plasticsresource.com
http://www.pbs.org/pov/borders/2004/water/water_disposable.html
http://refillnotlandfill.org
http://www.bottledwaterblues.com
http://www.sks-bottle.com
http://www.bottlesandcans.com
http://www.npr.org
http://www.csmonitor.com
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/05/28/recycled-water-bottle-cascade-chandelier/
http://thefuntimesguide.com/2007/08/plastic_bottle_lids_and_caps.php

Explaining the Bottle Bill
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was adopted in 1976 to define the role of the federal government in solid waste and resource management and recovery. As part of RCRA, the federal government intended to: 1) reduce solid waste and encourage recycling efforts by fostering collaboration between federal, state and local agencies as well as private entities, 2) promote public education regarding recycling and 3) establish solid waste management guidelines that encourage recycling for municipalities. (GAO 2006)
Local and state government agencies are mainly responsible for recycling programs, deciding what materials to collect, how to collect them, who collects and processes them, and how to conduct education and outreach programs. Some states require municipalities to operate recycling programs. Beverage container recycling programs, commonly referred to as “bottle bills,” are one important example.
Beverage Container Deposits
Bottle bills require deposits on beverage containers, such as bottles and cans, at the time of purchase. These deposits can be totally or partially recovered by individuals who recycle these containers. The first such bill was passed in Oregon in 1971. Eleven states currently operate bottle bill programs, and these states differ in how unredeemed deposits are dispersed. Most states allow consumers to return beverage containers to either retailers or participating recycling centers. A summary of each state’s deposit program is provided as follows:
California (imposed September 29, 1986): A five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by a state-managed fund.
Connecticut (April 12, 1978): A five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.
Delaware (June 30, 1982): A five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.
Hawaii (June 25, 2002): Distributors pay a five-cent per container deposit into a special state fund on a monthly basis. Distributors charge retailers the deposit on each container purchased by the retailer, and the retailer in turn charges the consumer the deposit. Unredeemed deposits are retained by a state-managed fund.
Iowa (April 1978): At least a five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.
Maine (January 12, 1976): A five-cent deposit is imposed on beer, soft drink, wine cooler, non-alcoholic carbonated and non-carbonated beverage containers, and a 15-cent deposit is imposed on wine and other liquor beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by the state General Fund.
Massachusetts (January 1983): A five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by a state Clean Environment Fund.
Michigan (November 2, 1976): A 10-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained at 75 percent by a state-managed fund and 25 percent by retailers.
New York (June 15, 1982): At least a five-cent deposit is imposed on all eligible beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.
Oregon (July 2, 1971): A two-cent deposit is imposed on all standardized refillable beverage containers, and a 5-cent deposit is imposed on all non-standardized refillable beverage containers. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.
Vermont (April 7, 1972): A five-cent deposit is imposed on beer, malt, soft drink, mineral and soda water, and wine cooler beverage containers, and a 15-cent deposit is imposed on liquor beverage containers greater than 50 milliliters. Unredeemed deposits are retained by distributors/bottlers.
Those 11 states currently having bottle bill programs report higher recycling rates for beverage containers than states without such programs. California, for example, reported a 60 percent recycling rate for its beverage containers between January and December 2006; during that year, over 13 billion containers were recycled, which was 814 million more than the year prior.
California leads the nation in the total quantity of bottles and cans recycled. (DOC 2007) As well, states with deposit programs have generally maintained higher recycling rates for beverage containers than the U.S. average rate.
Bottle bill opponents call deposit requirements a “tax” fronted by taxpayers. However, one-way, throwaway, no-deposit, no-return beverage containers are a corporate subsidy, a hidden tax. Taxpayers absorb the cost of disposing of beverage containers. And many taxpayers absorb the costs of recycling beverage containers through curbside recycling programs.
When there is a refundable deposit on beverage containers, the consumers (not taxpayers) pay the deposit. The deposit is refunded if the container is returned. And the beverage distributors and bottlers absorb the cost of collection. They then chose whether or not to pass their costs on to their consumers. Because 70 percent or more of the deposit containers are returned, taxpayers pay less for disposal and less for litter pickup and less for curbside recycling.
National Recycling Program
Based on a recent report published by the General Accounting Office on municipal recycling, recycling stakeholders interviewed encouraged, as the second most frequently cited policy option, increasing municipal recycling via adoption of a federal bottle bill. The National Beverage Producer Responsibility Act of 2003 was introduced to the Senate, which referred the bill on November 14 to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
The bill was introduced to the Committee three days later by Senator Jeffords (I-VT), but no action has as yet been taken on the bill.