Earth 911 is one of the best sources of information on recycling, where to recycle, how to recycle and business sustainabilty solutions. From them the latest updates on Plastic Business and Plastic Recycling.
Plastics industry as a whole
1. While overall recovery of plastics for recycling is relatively small – 2.1 million tons, or 6.8 percent of plastics generation in 2008 – recovery of some plastic containers has reached higher levels. PET soft drink bottles were recovered at a rate of 37 percent in 2008. Recovery of HDPE milk and water bottles was estimated at about 28 percent in 2008.
Source: U.S. EPA
2. The amount of plastics generation in municipal solid waste (MSW) has increased from less than 1 percent in 1960 to 12.0 percent in 2008.
Source: U.S. EPA
3. Today, 80 percent of Americans have access to a plastics recycling program.
Source: American Chemistry Council
4. In 2008, the United States generated about 13 million tons of plastics in the MSW stream as containers and packaging, almost 7 million tons as nondurable goods, and almost 11 million tons as durable goods. The total amount of plastics in MSW – about 30 million tons – represented 12 percent of total MSW generation in 2008.
Source: U.S. EPA
Plastic bottles
1. Americans buy an estimated 29.8 billion plastic water bottles every year. An estimated eight out of every 10 of these bottles will end up in a landfill.
Source: Container Recycling Institute
2. Plastics are a rapidly growing segment of the MSW stream. The largest category of plastics are found in containers and packaging (e.g., soft drink bottles, lids, shampoo bottles), but they also are found in durable (e.g., appliances, furniture) and nondurable goods (e.g., diapers, trash bags, cups and utensils, medical devices).
Source: U.S. EPA
3. The total pounds of plastic bottles recycled reached a record high 2,410 million pounds in 2008.
Source: American Chemistry Council
4. The 11 states that require small, refundable deposits on water bottles and other beverage containers recycle 490 beverage containers per capita annually, compared to 191 per capita in the other 39 states.
Source: Container Recycling Institute
Recycling plastic bags is extremely important, especially when you consider that countless bags end up in the ocean where marine life can mistake them for food.
Plastic bags
1. Film recovery has increased by 28 percent since 2005. Recovery grew to an estimated 832,394,000 pounds of post-consumer film (including plastic bags) in 2008.
Source: American Chemistry Council
2. As a result of 2009’s International Coastal Cleanup, the Ocean Conservancy found that plastic bags placed second (1.1 million), accounting for one out of every 10 items removed and tallied.
Source: Ocean Conservancy
3. Most grocery stores throughout the U.S. now offer plastic bag recycling since most curbside programs do not accept plastic bags. Due to their light weight, they can easily get stuck inside machinery when recycled.
Source: American Chemistry Council
4. Standard polyethylene bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, polyethylene’s polymer chains become brittle and start to crack. This suggests that plastic bags will eventually fragment into microscopic granules.
Source: Slate
Read the full story on plastics at Earth 911– I also found the comments very interesting!