Bottle Recycling
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Bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal ...
s are able to be
recycled Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...
and this is generally a positive option. Bottles are collected via kerbside collection or returned using a bottle deposit system. Currently just over half of
plastic bottle A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo or milk. They range in sizes, from very ...
s are recycled globally. About 1 million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and only about 50% are recycled.


Glass bottles

There are a large number of benefits to recycling glass bottles, not only for the manufacturing of new bottles but also for the production of other materials that can be used in different contexts. Clean
glass bottle Common uses for bottles made from glass include food condiments, soda, liquor, cosmetics, pickling and preservatives; they are occasionally also notably used for the informal distribution of notes. A glass bottle can vary in size considerably, b ...
s are 100% recyclable, can be substituted for up to 95% of raw material, and can be recycled ad-infinitum without the loss of purity or quality. Recycled glass also has a variety of uses outside of the production of new bottles. The least beneficial of these uses is when glass bottles are sifted, crushed down, and mixed with food refuse to create dirty mixed cullet. Mixed cullet has few uses outside of being used as and alternative to traditional landfill daily cover.MacBride, S. (2013). Recycling reconsidered: the present failure and future promise of environmental action in the United States. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Alternatively, smaller and unrecoverable pieces of glass are ground down into a fine powder and used as a high grade sand alternative for the production of concrete. Recoverable glass is often sorted by colour as different colour glass has a variety of uses and values. In the United States, recovered green glass is primarily shipped to Europe to produce wine bottles, brown glass is sold domestically to beer bottlers, and clear glass, the most valuable of the three can be used to replace up to 30 percent of virgin material in the production of new glass. In recent years,
extended producer responsibility Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a strategy to add all of the estimated environmental costs associated with a product throughout the product life cycle to the market price of that product, contemporarily mainly applied in the field of ...
(has come to the forefront of the debate concerning glass bottle recycling due to glass being very easy to clean and reuse, and its innate cradle to cradle design properties. Recycled glass is a necessity, as without it, manufacturers would not be able to keep up with the demand for new glass containers. Recycling one glass bottle can save enough energy to power a
computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
for 25 minutes. In fact for every 10% of cullet added to the production of a new bottle, energy usage goes down by 3-4%. Recycling one ton of glass can save approximately 42 kWh of energy which translates to 7.5 pounds of air pollutants not being released into the atmosphere.


Polyethylene terephthalate bottles

Polyethylene terephthalate bottles are mostly recycled as a raw material. In many countries, Polyethylene terephthalate plastics are coded with the
resin identification code The Resin Identification Code (RIC) is a technical standard with a set of symbols appearing on plastic products that identify the Synthetic resin, plastic resin out of which the product is made. It was developed in 1988 by the Society of the P ...
number "1" inside the universal
recycling symbol The universal recycling symbol ( or in Unicode) is a symbol consisting of three chasing arrows folded in a Möbius strip. It is an internationally recognized symbol for recycling. The symbol originated on the first Earth Day in 1970, created ...
, usually located on the bottom of the container.


High-density polyethylene bottles

High-density polyethylene is commonly used in bottles, particularly bottles (or jugs) of milk. Recycling code 2 is applicable. In the US, only about 30-35% of high-density polyethylene bottles are recycled.


Legislation

Container deposit legislation Container-deposit legislation (also known as a container-deposit scheme, deposit-refund system or scheme, deposit-return system, or bottle bill) is any law that requires the collection of a monetary deposit on beverage containers (refillable o ...
are laws passed by city, state, provincial, or national governments. They require a deposit on bottles to be collected when sold and reimbursed when returned. In May 2018 the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection were to impose a fine of 50m NIS on bottle manufacturers and importers that did not meet collection targets. In 2019 this was withdrawn after further review by the ministry determined the manufacturers and importers had met their collection targets. The U.S. uses a code system, where numbers correspond to certain types of plastic bottles and types of paper. Codes for bottles/ containers are numbers 1-7 and 70-72. These numbers correspond to certain material and chemical composition as seen below.


Plastic Bottles and Containers

1: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) 2: High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) 3: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), often made into piping. 4: Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) 5: Polypropylene (PP) 6: Polystyrene (PS), often made into single-use cups. 7: "Other" including, Bisphenol A (BPA), Polycarbonate, and plant-based material.


Glass Bottles

70: Mixed Glass 71: Clear Glass 71: Green Glass


Environmental comparisons

Many potential factors are involved in environmental comparisons of returnable vs non-returnable systems. Researchers have often used
life cycle analysis Life cycle assessment (LCA), also known as life cycle analysis, is a methodology for assessing the impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case of a manufact ...
methodologies to balance the many diverse considerations. Often the comparisons show benefits and problems with all alternatives. It helps provide an objective view of a complex subject. Reuse of bottles requires a
reverse logistics Reverse logistics encompasses all operations related to the upstream movement of products and materials. It is "''the process of moving goods from their typical final destination for the purpose of capturing value, or proper disposal. Remanufact ...
system, cleaning and, sanitizing bottles, and an effective
Quality Management System A quality management system (QMS) is a collection of business processes focused on consistently meeting customer requirements and enhancing their satisfaction. It is aligned with an organization's purpose and strategic direction ( ISO 9001:2015). ...
. A key factor with glass milk bottles is the number of cycles of uses to be expected. Breakage, contamination, or other loss reduces the benefits of returnables. A key factor with one-way recyclables is the recycling rate: In the US, only about 30-35% of high-density polyethylene bottles are recycled.


Recycling lottery

The Recycling Lottery system is an incentive that provides lottery prizes for placing plastic bottles into machines. This system works having machines that take in plastic bottles and provide lottery prizes to their users. This newer system was developed primarily for use in Norway to benefit the
Norwegian Red Cross The Norwegian Red Cross (''Norges Røde Kors'') was founded on 22 September 1865 by prime minister Frederik Stang. In 1895 the Norwegian Red Cross began educating nurses, and in 1907 the Norwegian Ministry of Defence authorized the organization ...
.


Alternative methods

Upcycling is a process that involves the reuse of one item in place of another. Being a part of the recycling process, it is aimed at being a creative way of repurposing items and materials more directly. This results in less energy being used, less money being spent, and less demand for new resources to be created. The process of upcycling can be performed in many ways across many types of materials.


Auditing Recycling Processes

The industry of bottle and general plastic recycling utilizes audits as a way of ensuring practices are sustainable and that integrity for worker safety and health is upheld. In some countries, like Pakistan, Cleaner Production Assessments (CPs) exist. CPs analyze the activity taking place and assign a certain risk type to the process. These processes are then divided into 3 categories based upon the Key Production Indicators, which are similar to control methods as seen with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. 1 of 3 categories is then selected. Occupational Health and Safety (OSH), Environmental, and Social. Below is a table to show some of the processes and their corresponding category.Section 3.3, Table 2. Hashmi, Safeerul Islam; Hewage, Harshi Tharangika Sirisena Aluthduwe; Visvanathan, Chettiyappan (2023-10-01). "Cleaner production auditing for plastic recycling industry in Pakistan: A baseline study". ''Chemosphere''. 337: 139338. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139338.
ISSN An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit to uniquely identify a periodical publication (periodical), such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs a ...
 0045-6535.


See also

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Plastic recycling Plastic recycling is the processing of plastic waste into other products. Recycling can reduce dependence on landfills, conserve resources and protect the environment from plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling rates lag beh ...
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Glass container industry Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container pro ...
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Reverse vending machine A reverse vending machine (RVM) is a machine that allows a person to insert a used or empty glass bottle, plastic bottle, or aluminum can in exchange for a reward. After inserting the Recycling, recyclable item, it is then compacted, sorted, and ...
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Glass crusher A glass crusher provides for pulverization of glass to a yield size of or less. Recycling operations may range from simple, manually-fed, self-contained machines to extravagant crushing systems complete with screens, conveyors, crushers and se ...
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Oregon Bottle Bill The Oregon Bottle Bill is a container-deposit legislation enacted in the U.S. state of Oregon in 1971 that went into effect in October 1972. It was the first such legislation in the United States. It was amended in 2007 and 2011. It requires ...
* History of bottle recycling in the United States


References


External links


Container Recycling Institute
* EcoARK {{packaging Recycling by product Bottles Energy conservation