Plastic Bottle Recycling Is A Dying Dream
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 08. 8.07
A New York Times Op Ed piece just had this to say about recycling plastic water bottles: "Of course, in certain circumstances bottled water is necessary. It is essential during emergencies — think Katrina — and it is certainly a better alternative when the only other drinks come loaded with calories.
What the rising use of bottled water leaves us with, however, is a huge recycling problem. Of the mountain of individual plastic water bottles created by Americans each year — including enough to hold more than seven billion gallons of water — less than one-fourth are sent to the recycling industry for a second round."
We don't agree. Emergency water bottle deliveries are the exception. Buying water bottles might be a convenience for FEMA; but, to cite this rare situation to demonstrate a broader market "need" is off point. Moreover, people will come to water trucks in an emergency if they have to - just as easily as they can to a truck full of bottles.
Several kinds of portable filtration technology are available for point of distribution treatment; and, smaller, pour-through filters can be distributed for consumer use in an emergency.
Set aside, if you will, both the emergency use issue and the potential loss of feel-good redemption from curbside recycling. Working backwards from the Time's "one-fourth", the non-recycled remainder, around 75% of all plastic water bottles sold in the US presumably goes to the dumpster and on to a landfill tip, or else ends up in the mid-ocean gyre. How many more decades are we going to try to delude ourselves that encouraging the of recycling water bottles is a practical solution?
The PET bottle supply chain knows that if developed societies somehow were able to reclaim 90% of the empty plastic water bottles, and put most of the PET back into packaging uses, it would drag down the price of virgin polymer. Retail beverage outlets know that take back and storage of plastic empties adds labor cost, takes up space, and possibly may require capital investment. So, they lobby against mandatory deposit bills - quite effectively. Do we wait another thirty years to see how many more states will enact them?
Without costly bottle grinders at the big retail establishments, especially those which sell very large volumes of water bottles, the result of wide scale mandatory collection would be trucks hauling mostly air back to regional recycling facilities - where re-grind would take place. Does this make environmental sense? It is a question that creates endless debate until a third party produces a peer reviewed life cycle study to back up a conclusion.
For right now, if you want to feel better about your hydration "footprint," fill up a nice canteen or re-usable water bottle when you leave home for work, shopping, school or whatever. And, no, we're not arguing for a ban on bottle waters or to abandon recycling programs. Just make the better choice whenever it's practical to. Fill'er up at home.
If you own a business or want to develop a green building, do your part to reinforce the better choice. Bring back the occasional water cooler and install drinking fountains in the hallways, lobbies, and public eating areas. (This should be a LEED bottom line requirement if it is not already.)
Workplace environmental coordinators might consider posting the results of tap water analysis offered for free, and by law, by your water supply company. Send it around with an explanation of why drinking tap water is the better choice.
Image credit::Eblips, Emergent Culture Metafilter, Water Bottle Glacier In The Desert
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So you do agree. That was exactly the point of the Times editorial. That in most cases there's no need and no point in using bottled water. The Katrina comment was to point out the exception. I don't think you understood the editorial.
Bottles aren't even necessary in emergencies. The Canadian military's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) uses water treatment systems that 'bag' the water in clear plastic 1 litre pouches that are the same as our bags of milk. The bagged water is then easily distributed to those that need it. Because the water is bagged as required, when required, and on location there is less shipping involved, and the plastic has less time to release chemicals into the water.
I just wish someone would figure out a way to use all types of plastic as a clean burning fuel, then people might have an economic incentive to collect the plastic bottles, nurdles, and the vast wasteland of plastic out of the ocean.
No worries. Plastic bags are going to a valuable component of the resource recovery business of landfill mining. The molten plastic with shredded plastic bottles for strengthening fiber make incredible railroad ties. We're going to be using a lot of these in the future, once we get serious about high speed rail and evacuated tube transport.
There are 3 technologies already created to recycle plastic bottles. What is needed here is a bit of money behind commercial development and a little competition.
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One of the reasons I am proud to live in Nova Scotia.
Our recycling is as follows:
1. Everyone has a "Green Bin" for composting. This is approx. stomach height. This is obviously kept outside. You also get a much smaller "Green Bin" that goes under your sink or in some other cupoard. You fill this with all your compostable stuff and when it fills empty it in the bigger Green Bin.
2. Everyone has a Blue/Clear bag for recycling paper and light box board, like cereal boxes etc.
3. Everyone has a Blue/Clear bag for recycling plastic. I cannot remember the exact numbers but anything with certain numbers in the recycling symbol goes in this bag. Including bottles IF you don't choose to do # 4.
4. You have another bag that you fill with "refundables" plastic and glass bottles that you pay a 10cent deposit on in stores. You bring them to a local "Recycling Depot" and get 5 cents back of the deposit for every bottle. Which doesn't sound like much but it can add up to a bit if you use a lot of bottles.'
Now, I'm not sure if this is the same province wide.Where I live every two weeks the "Waste Management Worker" drives his truck around and picks all of this up. With the exception of # 4.
The sad thing is that even if we stopped using plastic bottles, it would do almost nothing. Did you know that they account for less than 1/3 of one percent of the waste stream. To really make an impact we'd have to address ALL plastic items. Just banning bottled water is useless.
One of the methods implemented by the govt in kerala state,in India is to collect the plastic and use it with road asphalt(tar).The result is good as the roads lasted more than normal asphalt mixtures and people are getting rid of this plastic problem.
But question really exists that during the mixing with tar does it really impact air pollution?
if its less then better go ahead with this and make your country road green!!!
It's an editorial, not an op-ed.
I really don't like this type of black and white/ all or nothing way of thinking. Clearly not adding waste to the waste stream is preferable to adding it so it is not useless to do something about water bottles.
In the end, I think we should concentrate on the larger public message that convenience is expensive for the environment. As one responder suggested above - it is not just the bottles that are an issue - it is all that packaging - the increased packaging that is the problem. More and more items are coming in non-recyclable plastic containers - for that matter, has anyone been in a Whole Foods lately? Some have no bulk items, but shelves and shelves of plastic containered dried fruits, granolas etc... (Alexandria, VA) and THIS is a travesty. Where is the backbone when it comes to leaders in the industry like Whole Foods? On the other hand, they have adopted the use of a new 100% post consumer recycled cardboard salad bar box that works great!! And, Whole Foods really brought good food and the focus on quality to consumers in a very effective way - no matter what their shortfalls, their overall effect is a good step towards making consumers more aware in general of organics and conservation and recycling.
I have a 10 year old Nalgene bottle that is NOT skanky because I take care of it. I don't let them put my eggs in a separate bag at the grocery store, and for that matter, I bring a cloth bag most of the time.
The excuse often used to explain the use of individual 8 oz or 12 oz water bottles (among other conveniences) is that our lifestyles require this convenience - life is 'so hectic' that we (the American Consumer) 'want' things that are conveniently packaged, or packaged in smaller sizes to meet the demands of our 'hectic lifestyles'. Just go and tell someone that you sympathize with their difficult work schedule and their need to eat TV Dinners because s/he does not have time to cook, and "coo" and "aww" when you discuss how hard it all is, and that person will often perpetuate the habits that make that lifestyle hectic, or that make it look hectic - you will help to justify living on 'TV Dinners'.
We are the ones in control of our recycling and purchasing habits. The people who tell us that hectic lifestyles are the culprits are the ones who produce and package these growing amounts of pre-packaged, smaller bottled and more
'convenient' foods. They want us to buy their products because they are primarily concerned with their bottom line, or for public companies, with shareholder value. Sales and good management generally make for better shareholder value, not concern for the environment. You and I are responsible for stepping off of the bus that they have carpeted so softly for us, and for bringing cloth bags to the store, demanding that they allow us to refill our containers, buying in bulk in our own containers and criticizing individually packaged items. This way, as I recently found out in my county, if there is no recycling of any plastics but #1 and #2 BOTTLES ONLY - you will have fewer other items to worry about, and you will feel great about it!.
One of the methods implemented by the govt in kerala state,in India is to collect the plastic and use it with road asphalt(tar).The result is good as the roads lasted more than normal asphalt mixtures and people are getting rid of this plastic problem.
But question really exists that during the mixing with tar does it really impact air pollution?
There have been many attempts in India to use waste plastics in developing road surfaces with it. This does not dispose of the toxins but simply spreads it around, much like in the case of landfills.
I just wish someone would figure out a way to use all types of plastic as a clean burning fuel, then people might have an economic incentive to collect the plastic bottles, nurdles, and the vast wasteland of plastic out of the ocean.
James W. Garthe of the Pennsylvania State University has developed a process in 1995 to convert all types of dirty plastics into fuel nuggets. The intent of the nugget process was to direct used plastics into a new raw material stream for energy recovery, either co-fired with coal in community and agricultural boilers or burned directly. The process was developed for waste agricultural plastics, yet it works with plastics found in all sectors of society. Both film and rigid thermoplastics can be accommodated.
Prof. Mrs. Alka Umesh Zadgaonkar, Head of Department of Applied Chemistry at the Nagpur based G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering invented an Environment friendly catalytic process for disposal of waste plastic. The invented process involves degradation waste plastic using `catalytic-additive’ and is different from the generally existing pyrolytic processes.
Reusing waste plastics
Post consumer (v.s. industrial) plastic recycling is a dream, unfortunately made into law, which costs taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars. Waste Management is making out, at the consumers expense.
Here is a link to an article which puts it into perspective and teaches a bit about the properties of plastics, and why you can't just mix all kinds of plastic, and come up with a recycleable product.
http://www.eurekarecycling.org/PDFS/Recycling_Plastic_Complications.pdf
The gist of it is this;
"there are actually thousands of different types of plastic. Different combinations of dyes and additives can be added to the basic resin to produce a desired color, shape and texture in the final product. These variations in the manufacturing process lead to different melting points and other properties within the same resin code. To be made into another product, plastic must be carefully sorted by type. Combining different types of plastic renders it useless for manufacturing."
Would have been nice if you had asked to use my image or given me credit for the image instead of just stealing it from my website.
Peace,
Ehron Asher
=== author's response follows ===
Check the bottom of the post and you'll see an image credit. Regretfully, it seems as if we borrowed it from and referenced someone who borrowed it from you and did not properly reference your work.
Thanks for correcting it with this comment.
Why the water bottle/drink industries in the USA avoid recycling plastic/plastic bottles? The answer is "COST" ,"Outlet" and "Bill Board Sign"
This costly process, heavily centered on the 'SORTING" process that has made the industry to be unattractive. Meanwhile we still able to dump all of those plastic waste/bottle by selling them to developing countries, while we can label (Billboard signed) ourselves with doing recycling, are we?
Recyclable plastics are not always recyclable, why? Imagine this. Plastics are similar with our blood. We have type A, B, AB, O with variant of rhesus positive and negative. If you have two kind of recyclable plastic for example bottle water (actually three) they are the bottle itself (Most of the time is PET) then the label (could be PVC, CPVC, Paper, OPP, etc) and the cups (either PP or PE). How could be recycle them without separating them first? Can we infuse type "A" blood person with 90% type "A" blood mixed with 5% type "B" blood and 5% with rhesus negative?
If we able to separate them with no burden at the cost and ease (Imagine using PP/CPP for the label, which is floating in the water and the same Clear PET material for the cups), putting back all of those recycled material in to the production line is very possible and profitable. PET is sinking in the water, while PP/CPP is floating. I would say that we will be able to put recycle content up to 50% to mix with the virgin materials. All depends on the way we process it. The stricter we are to the quality, the higher purity pellets we will get.
I know of a start-up company that can recycle 100% of curbside trash and turn it into usable building products. No more need to separate glass, plastics, etc. This company can recycle all of it.
This will save trees and stop the expansion of landfills.
Why is it so difficult to find funding for such a company?
What about the bottle caps? My local recycling curbside bins. They say throw away the caps? Are these non recycleable?
My business partner Ondrej Lewis and I have decided to take the PET and HDPE bottle problem into our own hands. We recycle large quantities of PET bottles to make beautiful lightweight, recycled and artistic lighting solutions.
Our latest piece of work is a 2 metre high chandelier made from 600 PET bottles. We are developing new work as I speak and intend to develop our EcoPETlite concept further over the next few months.
We are based in the UK, and are exhibiting at New Designers from 10th-13th July 2008. Please see our temporary website for a range of sustainable and recycled plastic design work.
Kind regards
Joanne Riddle & Ondrej Lewis - Ateliero
www.ateliero.co.uk
The title of this base article "Plastic Bottle Recycling is a Dying Dream" is a sad comment. There does exist a strong plastic bottle recycling industry in North America that is in dire need of that 75+% of plastic bottles that are not finding their way back into the recycling stream. The PET bottle collection rate has been below 25% since 1998. Of that quarter collected, over half of that volume is being exported to China. At this rate the domestic recycling infrastructure will collapse and we will be at the mercy of Asia to buy or not buy all US recyclables.
Bottle bills have a proven collection rate well over 70%, and in Michigan's case over 90%. Industry's opposition to legislated mandates should not discourage the effort to get more bottle bill states. Or more effectively, get more bottle bill expansions approved. That's the problem with the water bottles, only Maine and California include water bottles in their deposit programs. Society was not drinking water from plastic bottles (or juice and sports drinks) when most of the deposit laws were enacted. consequently, there is no redemption value on water bottles like there is on soda and beer.
If we cannot get any new bottle bill states, if we can at least get expansion of water and non-carb bottles into the existing deposit programs, we will nurture the recycling stream to the point that more capital investments will be made, resulting in more recycling capacity.
The BEAR (Businesses & Environmentalists Allied for Recycling) Report, a Global Green project, documented that if you incorporate the value of the unredeemed deposits into the formula, that deposit collections are actually less expensive than curbside collections.
With regards to the comment asking about the recyclability of the caps, the answer is yes; beverage bottle caps are made of polypropylene (PP) which floats in the wash process as the PET sinks. This separate stream is sold back into recycled content applications as well.
If the recycling of plastic is, as some commenters have suggested, unprofitable, then why are there companies that will pay institutions for their recyclables? I'm a student, and I've recently learned that my school must pay a certain price per ton to have garbage removed, while they get paid for each ton of recyclables.
The relative cost of recyclables (plastic or otherwise) will continue to fall with time as virgin materials become rarer. This is simple economic certainty. As such, it would behoove us to have the recycling habits and infrastructure in place as early as possible. That means yesterday. Recycling shouldn't be an option, and it shouldn't be an option for companies and municipalities to not participate in recycling.
One thing that always makes me angry is walking through a city with garbage cans on every corner and not a recycling bin in sight. Then, if I do manage to find one, I find that people have filled it with garbage, even if there is a garbage can right next to it and clearly marked.
By the way, what fraction of garbage is really unrecyclable with current recycling technologies? Most of my trash that doesn't get recycled is compostable. The rest is generally the result of bad packaging practices. I estimate that 2/3 of my "trash" gets recycled (paper, plastic, and glass), and after accounting for compostables, only about 10% is actually unrecyclable. But even that fraction is mostly organic compounds, and in principle could be used in waste-to-energy plants...
Our descendants (or in my case, me, since I'm pretty sure it'll happen in my lifetime) will be appalled that we were willing to throw away perfectly good resources. They will mine our dumps and be the wealthier for it. They'll reprocess it using renewable energy into whatever they need.
I am sort of a convert because I honestly never even thought about the effects of waste, but I started learning more and more and finally made the switch to reusable bottles. I found some at www.reduceeveryday.com that are GREAT. I decided if I was going to use reusable bottles they had to look good and stay looking good and so far mine have survived every wash! just thought everyone else should know about them, especially if they're like me and close to their breaking point :)