You Watched the Video. Now See the Facts.
PET & Recycling: It Works. Here’s How You Can Help.
PET bottled water is 100% recyclable, has one of the lowest environmental footprints of all packaged drinks, and when we all recycle right, PET can become new bottles, clothes, shoes, and many other useful products.
Follow three simple steps to keep PET in the recycling stream:
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Empty the bottle.
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Put the cap back on. The caps are also 100% recyclable and accepted when attached. Caps will often be lost in the process when they are not on the bottle.
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Place the bottle directly in your recycling bin. Most programs will not accept bagged recyclables, so be sure to double-check your local recycling program.
That’s it! These small actions improve sorting and increase the rate and value of recycled PET.
Why this matters:
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A third-party life cycle assessment found that PET water bottles have the lowest environmental footprint compared with other common packaged-water formats, across greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel use, and water use. Source: Trayak
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PET is 100 percent recyclable and is one of the most widely accepted and recycled plastics. Recycled PET is used to make new bottles, fibers for clothing, carpeting, packaging, and other useful products. Source: Bottled Water, NAPCOR, American Beverage Association
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PET plastic bottles are made to be remade. With good collection and sorting, PET can be transformed again and again into useful products — including new food-grade packaging in many cases. Source: NAPCOR
How recycling PET actually works.
Collection and sorting. Bottles are collected, sorted by material, and separated from any non-recyclables.
Cleaning and processing. Bottles are cleaned, labels and contaminants removed, and turned into flakes or pellets.
Rebirth. Those recycled flakes become new bottles, fabric, packaging, and more. High-quality recycling and demand for recycled PET help close the loop.
[insert Ryan’s recycling video here]
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