The Benefits Of Recycling Water Bottles

In the United States, each of the 300 million citizens uses an average of 166 plastic water bottles each year. As landfill space is at a minimum and it takes years to break down the materials in a plastic bottle, recycling water bottles is an extremely important task. Recycling water bottles provides several benefits, some of which most people never would have even considered.

When plastic water bottles are recycled, here are some of the benefits:

• For each ton of plastic bottles that makes it to a recycling center, there is 7.4 cubic yards saved in a landfill. This can make a huge impact when there are billions of water bottles used each year.

• That same ton of plastic bottles will conserve 3.8 barrels of crude oil that would be used in the production process of other products needed to replace those that are made from the recycled bottles.

• Recycling water bottles can result in the creation of new products produced from the recycled materials. Things such as polar fleece, building products and even handbags are created from plastic from recycling water bottles.

• By using recycled water bottles to produce new products, there is a vast amount of energy saved in manufacturing. Processing the new plastic needed requires about two-thirds more energy than the recycling process.

• As the recycling process is shorter and more energy efficient than producing new plastic materials, there are less emissions, reducing the carbon footprint and greenhouse effect that is associated with certain types of manufacturing.

These are just a few of he benefits of recycling water bottles. As the country and the world are becoming more aware of the damage that has been done to the environment by an irresponsible lifestyle, many more may come to light. In the future, there may even be better alternatives to plastic water bottles that will make them obsolete. In the meantime, consumers can recycle their plastic bottles and use refillable bottles to help cut down on the environmental problems.

While a better solution to the problem of excessive water bottles in landfills would be to cut back on the usage of these plastic bottles, recycling water bottles can help to alleviate the problem. If even half of the people in the US would make a point to recycle their water bottles, imagine the positive impact that that would have on the environment. The next time you polish off a bottle of water, be sure to dispose of it in a place that handles the recycling of water bottles. The planet will thank you.