What Are the Benefits of Recycling Water Bottles?

Plastic water bottles are common in the world today and useful for consumers. According to the Recycling Facts Guide, 300 million citizens of the United States each use approximately 166 plastic water bottles every year, and not all of these bottles get recycled. Recycling plastic water bottles is an important part of keeping the environment healthy.

Oil and Gas Emissions

• When water bottles are recycled, oil is conserved. The Benefits of Recycling website states that 3.8 barrels of oil are saved when a ton of plastic bottles are recycled. The production of plastic water bottles creates greenhouse gasses; recycling these bottles reduces the amount of greenhouse gasses that are produced by manufacturing more water bottles.

Landfill Space and Energy

• Discarded water bottles take up room in landfills. Because water and other soft drink bottles are made with PET (polyethylene terephthalate), it takes a great deal of energy to replace these discarded bottles, as opposed to recycling them. Recycling just a pound of polyethylene terephthalate saves about 12,000 British Thermal Units of energy.

Creation of New Products

• When plastic water bottles are recycled, this results in the creation of new products. These new products are produced from the material that was recycled from old bottles. This process saves on materials and the energy it takes to make those new materials.