The studies are called 2009 Post Consumer PET Bottle Bale Composition Analysis and 2009 Report on PET Water Bottle Recycling, both produced by the National Association for PET Container Resources (Napcor) for the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA).
The 2009 recycling rate is up only slightly since last year, which was 30.9%, but a welcome continuation of steady annual increases in the recycling trend line since this analysis commenced in 2004, when the recycling rate for PET plastic bottled water containers stood at 16.6%. The 2009 data indicates that the recycling rate for PET plastic bottled water containers has nearly doubled in five years.
Napcor data indicates there were 1,298m pounds of PET bottled water containers available for recycling in 2009. Currently, 25.2% of PET plastic recovered from all plastic bottles (food, beverages etc) is specifically derived from bottled water containers.
Using data compiled during an extensive bale composition study in 15 locations in 14 states, the 2009 Napcor PET analysis determined that the total number of pounds of all PET bottles and jars available in the US for recycling in 2009 was 5.149bn pounds, representing a 4% drop from 2008 data analysis.
The decrease is attributed to adverse economic circumstances for consumers, a reduction in the amount of PET resin used in bottles and jars (known as lightweighting) and a 37% increase in the use of recycled PET resin (rPET) since 2008. In 2009, the gross recycling rate for all PET bottles is 28%, a 1% increase over 2008’s recycling rate of 27%.
Source: IBWA
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