What Happens to Water Bottles After They Get Recycled?

You may have often heard about the importance of recycling water bottles when you're done with them, but you may wonder exactly what happens to them after you drop them off in the recycling bin. A bottle goes through a long process of cleaning and processing before the center turns it into a material that can be used for a number of different types of items.

Sorted and Condensed

• After you drop off the bottles, workers sort them and prepare them for sale to other processors. The recycling center sorts the bottles depending on the specifications of the buyer. These centers then condense these bottles and ship them to a plastics recycling facility.

Grinding and Cleaning

• A plastics recycling facility, or PRF, takes the raw recycled bottles and grind them up. The facility sends this to "reclaimer" facilities to process the plastic into a form that converters can use to further refine the plastic and turn it into a commodity-grade form. The facility separates the plastic "flakes" from other materials. The flakes may pass through an electrostatic separator which separates the recycled plastic from any trace metals.

Conversion into Commodity-Grade Material

• The facility puts the recycled plastic through some final cleanings before sending it to the reclaimers for final processing. Reclaimers and converters then turn the recycled plastic into commodity-grade raw material such as fibers or sheets. It is then sold to end-users, who use them to manufacturer new products.

Used in Many Products

• Companies turn the recycled plastic into a number of different products. A company might turn the plastic into packaging, perhaps creating new water bottles. It might be turned into reinforced components for automobiles. The plastic might be used as a fiber in carpets, fabrics and fiberfills. Other products include egg cartons, furniture, pillows, scouring pads, sails and even recycling bins.