Allan Gerlat, News Editor

February 25, 2013

1 Min Read
PET Bottle Recycling Soars to Nearly 39 Percent

Recycling of single-use plastic water bottle containers reached 38.6 percent for 2011, more than doubling the rate from seven years ago, according to a new study.

The recycling rate for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles increased nearly 20 percent from the previous year’s rate of 32.3 percent, according to data from the Sonoma, Calif.-based National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR)

And the New York-based Beverage Marketing Corp. (BMC) reported that the average weight of a 16.9-ounce, single-serve PET plastic water bottle dropped by almost 47.8 percent during the past 11 years to 9.9 grams, the Alexandria, Va.-based International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) stated in a news release.

According to the internal NAPCOR study, 500 million pounds of PET plastic water bottles were reclaimed for recycling in 2011, which is the most recent data.

BMC data showed that the bottle weight reductions have saved 3.3 billion pounds of PET resin since 2000.

About the Author(s)

Allan Gerlat

News Editor, Waste360

Allan Gerlat joined the Waste360 staff in September 2011 as news editor. He was the editor of Waste & Recycling News for the first 16 years of its history, and under his guidance the publication won 27 national and regional awards.

Before Waste & Recycling News, Allan worked at another Crain Communications publication, Rubber & Plastics News, which covers rubber product manufacturing. He began with the publication as associate editor and eventually became managing editor, a position he held for nine years.

Allan is a graduate of Ohio University, where he earned a BS in journalism. He is based in Sagamore Hills, in northeast Ohio.

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