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How to Recycle Plastic Bottles

How to Recycle Plastic Bottles

Plastic bottles are recyclable. The easiest way to recycle plastic bottles is in your council recycling bin.  It is however preferable not to buy them in the first place -  buy a reusable water bottle – preferably a metal one. 

Always remember to remove any leftover product before recycling and follow your own council’s instructions regarding caps recycling - on or off!

If you do choose to use plastic, avoid water bottles made of polycarbonate. You will know them because they are usually translucent (not opaque) and hard, and available in various bright colours.

Also avoid water bottles made of PVC 3 plastic or PS 6 plastic. 

Don't leave water bottles in your car. Most plastics leach chemicals when exposed to heat or light. 

The best way to recycle plastic bottles is to rethink instead. Don't buy plastic water bottles in the first place. Even if you aren't guilted into not buying single use plastic water bottles because they don't break down for a thousand years, recent evidence suggests that you are probably ingesting a fair chunk of plastic if you drink bottled water.

The latest research from Fredonia State University in New York exposed the high content of micro plastics in single use bottled waters. Yes, they are full of micro plastics - some up to 10,000 pieces in a single litre.

It's cheaper for you and better for the planet to get yourself a reusable like this one from Honua and keep it with you.

Why would you have some ugly assed plastic water bottle when you can have one that looks this good at the beach anyway? And what's more, the bike would make you look even better, especially if you actually rode it to the beach everyday.



Image: Honua
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Science Notes
Sadly, only about 36% of plastic bottles are actually recycled. This means that approximately 373 million of plastic bottles end up in landfill or floating around in streams, rivers, park lands, beside roads and on the street.  

Plastic goes through six stages of recycling. First, the plastics are collected; then separated into the different types of plastics. The plastics are then compressed before undergoing two processing stages. Finally the plastic granules can be made into new products.

Related Tip
If you are buying something like a soft drink where you have a choice between a plastic bottle or an aluminium can, choose the can.  While it does not use more resources, it takes more energy to recycle a plastic bottle than make a new one. On the other hand, cans are easily recycled and use 95% less energy than making them from scratch.