Green Cotton

Two million plastic beverage bottles used in the US every five minutes. Photosource: Chris Jordan at Monotype

After looking at the sad state of the recycling industry in China, and the price volatility in the recycling market, we at Green Cotton had to ask ourselves: as the largest consumers in the world, how are we in the US dealing with the waste we produce?

With so many angles to explore with waste removal and recycling in the US, we’d like to focus just on polyethylene terephthalate or better known as PETE and PET plastics for this post, which happens to be the most widely used and reused plastic in the United States. PETE is a plastic that can be made re-purposed or recycled into a new materials or formulated back into its original material (such as a plastic bottle). But how often does this recycling actually occur and how does it do so?

According to wikipedia, when recycling polyethylene terephthalate or PET or polyester, there are generally two ways that this can be done:

1)  Chemical recycling which converts back to the initial raw materials purified terephthalic acid (PTA) or dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and mono ethylene glycol (MEG) where the polymer structure is destroyed completely, or in process intermediates like bis-ß-hydroxyterephthalate

2) Mechanical recycling where the original polymer properties are being maintained or reconstituted.

With respect to chemical (back into original form), this is generally considered not cost effective or efficient unless done in quantities of >> 50,000 tons/year, and this is generally only possible at very large polyester production sites. There are so many barriers to making chemical re-composition effecient and feasible, such as difficulties collecting consistent and same-type plastic bottles on a regular basis, decontamination and cleaning issues as well as an issue we blogged about recently on Green Cotton, the volatility of prices on the recycling market.

PET bottle recycling washing machine in China. Source: Made-in-China.com

Mechanical on the other hand is much more feasible and is widely practiced in a number of countries worldwide. Mechanical recycling or direct circulation of PET in the polymeric state is done in a number of capacities including among small and medium-sized industries. Cost-efficiency can already be achieved with plant capacities within a range of 5 000 – 20 000 tons/year.

In this method, manufacturers can create pellets or flakes, which can be recycled into fiber, carpet, clothing, nonfood containers, detergent, motor oil, household cleaner bottles, and as seen below in this stylish travel bags.

An example of mechanical reconstitution however being made into reusable products can be seen in this satchel bag by “Engage Green”. The bag was crafted from approximately 16 recycled soda bottles made into PEET fabric.

So what’s the story on PETE in the United States? Despite the fact that we are now able to reprocess #1-PET and make it into fabrics both for industrial as well as other purposes, the overall picture appears darker than one would expect.

In 2007, according to the American Chemistry Council, the largest amount of plastic ever, 116 billion pounds, was produced. While the total numbered of recycled bottles has increased steadily in the United States overall, the recycling rate of PET bottles has in fact dropped. In 1995, one fourth of PET containers were recycled but in 2006 less than one fifth was, according to the Container Recycling Institute. In real waste terms, this means that 50 billion plastic PET containers ended up as litter, in landfills or incinerators….in 2006.  An alarming statistic to those concerned with natural resources and the amount of build-up in our landfills.

What can be done to improve the situation?

(1) First, it appears that we could take better advantage of our nations’ capacity to recycle #1-PET containers (we are currently only using 86% of that capacity right now). Importantly too, if we are using 86% of total capacity and less than 20% of total consumed bottles are being recycled, our ability to recycle these bottles is far less than our consumption level and must be increased as soon as possible.

(2) Second, we need to create a greater demand for products made from recycled PET, so that we can keep these plastics circling through the market and not ending up on landfills (eg the satchel listed above).

(3) Third, we should only buy plastics whenever absolutely necessary. The less demand for first generation plastics, the less we will ultimately need to recycle. So say no to that water bottle or soda bottle next time unless it is absolutely necessary. Bring your own Sigg, Kor or other bottle whenever possible.

(4) When you do recycle, clean out your bottles as best as possible. One of the major issues with recycling is the removal and decontamination of waste, and that waste is easiest removed at point of contamination. The longer the waste sits, the more difficult to remove.

What else can be done? Tell us your snip-its of wisdom. We want to hear from you.

Primary sources used for this article include Zero Waste America, Container Recycling.org and wikipedia