Down the drain
02-JUN-2006
Plastic water bottles should no longer be a wasted resource
Each day in the US more than 60 million
plastic water bottles are thrown away. Most end up in landfills or incinerators,
and millions litter America¿s streets, parks and waterways. How can America
be spurred on to recycle more?
Today, the oldest liquid on earth is the number one `new age¿ drink in the
United States and in many countries throughout the world. While many noncarbonated
beverages have experienced incredible growth over the past decade (such as ready-to-drink
tea, fruit juices and sports drinks), noncarbonated bottled water is way ahead
of the pack, with sales in the US expected to exceed US$10 billion in 2006.
Health-conscious Americans are consuming water from disposable plastic bottles
at a rate of more than 70 million bottles each day. Some are spurred on in a
bid to reduce the quantity of sugar in their diet. Others are concerned by the
quality of municipal drinking water ¿ a concern that public officials say is
unwarranted.
`Bottled water can cost as much as 10,000 times more
than tap water¿
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More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills and incinerators every
day ¿ a total of about 22 billion last year. Six times as many plastic water
bottles were thrown away in the US in 2004 as in 1997. From sea to shining sea,
plastic water bottles are clogging the streams and tributaries that feed into
America¿s rivers. The bottles that are not contained by fallen trees and other
debris along our inland waterways are floating out into the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans. From there they are finding their way to the shores of island communities
and coastal countries that are themselves only just beginning to experience
the problems associated with plastic beverage bottle waste.
BOTTLED WATER - A GLOBAL PHENOMENON
Although the US leads the world in the consumption of bottled water, at 26
billion litres in 2004, the bottled water craze is a global phenomenon. According
to Beverage Marketing Corporation, worldwide consumption reached 154 billion
litres (41 billion gallons) in 2004, an increase of 57% in five years.
Mexico, with a population slightly more than one-third that of the US, is the
second largest consumer of bottled water, at 18 billion litres annually. At
12 billion litres each, China and Brazil are not far behind. Italy and Germany
rank fifth and sixth in consumption, at 10 billion plus litres each (see Figure
1).
On a per capita basis, Italians are the biggest consumers of bottled water,
at nearly 184 litres in 2004 ¿ the equivalent of more than two glasses a day.
Second and third place in per capita consumption are Mexico and the United Arab
Emirates, at 169 and 164 litres respectively. Belgium (including Luxembourg
in the statistics) and France are close, with consumption just under 145 litres
per person annually (Figure 2).
Global consumption of bottled water has been growing over the past five years
despite the fact that in a many places, including Europe and the US, there are
more regulations governing the quality of tap water than bottled water. US water
quality standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency for tap water,
for example, are more stringent than the Food and Drug Administration¿s standards
for bottled water.
CONSUMERS ARE PAYING A HIGH PRICE TO HYDRADTE
Most Americans pay a monthly water bill for municipal tap water at an average
cost of US $2.00 per 1000 gallons ($0.5 per 1000 litres), according to the American
Water Works Association (AWWA). Filtering tap water by means of a filter installed
under the kitchen sink brings the cost up to about $0.10 cents a gallon, and
a tabletop filter increases the cost to $0.25 cents a gallon.
The Container Recycling Institute conducted an informal survey of prices for
bottled water in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. This revealed that prices for 12-packs
of Coca-Cola¿s Dasani bottled water ranged from $1.57 to $8.26 per gallon, or
as much as 4000 times more than tap water. Dasani is filtered tap water.
A comparison of identically sized 12-packs of bottled water linked with different
brands and stores revealed prices ranging from $2.99 to $4.99 per gallon. Bottled
water can cost as much as 10,000 times more than tap water, according to the
AWWA.
But the price that consumers are paying for the bottled water itself pales
in comparison to the price they¿re paying for the environmental consequences
of manufacturing, transport, and disposal of the bottles. The Earth Policy Institute
estimates that making bottles to meet the US demand for bottled water requires
more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 100,000 cars for
a year. Transport and disposal of the bottles adds to the resources used, and
water extraction ¿ which is concentrated in communities where bottling plants
are located ¿ adds to the strains bottled water puts on our ecosystem.
WHAT HAPPENS TO PLASTIC SINGLE-SERVING WATER BOTTLES AFTER THEY'RE DRAINED?
Only about one in six plastic water bottles sold in the US in 2004 was recycled,
leading to a national recycling rate of about 17%. According to the National
Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) 4637 million pounds (2103 million
kg) of PET beverage, food, and non-food bottles were sold in 2004. Of the 803
million pounds (364 million kg) that were converted to clean flake:
- 298 million pounds (135 million kg) were exported, primarily to Asia
- 505 million pounds (229 million kg) were used domestically to make new products
such as polyester jackets, carpet, film, strapping and new PET bottles.
Only a small percentage of PET bottles sold are used to make new plastic bottles
¿ approximately 4%. The paucity of closed-loop recycling means that new water
bottles must be manufactured almost entirely from virgin petroleum resin, consuming
vast amounts of energy and resources. Increasing the quantity of bottles containing
recycled content would greatly reduce energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions
and pollution.
The Coca-Cola Company has committed to using recycled content in 10% of all
their plastic beverage bottles sold in North America. PepsiCo has committed
to using 10% recycled content in their plastic soft drink and water bottles
sold in the US. Other bottled water producers are silent on the issue. Although
both Coca-Cola and Pepsi met their recycled content goals in 2005, plastics
recycling experts doubt they will reach them in 2006 due to the lack of supply
of collected scrap bottles.
DEMAND FOR PET BOTTLES FAR EXCEEDS SUPPLY
The growing national consumption of single-serving water bottles made from
raw materials is an unnecessary waste of resources, as dozens of recycling businesses
have the capacity to recycle these and other PET bottles. They have an economic
interest in recycling. Scrap bottles provide a costsaving alternative to virgin
resin both for processors and end-users, who manufacture new bottles and other
plastic products. NAPCOR¿s `2004 Report on Post-Consumer PET Recycling Activity¿
stated that `Even with the increases posted in 2004, supply remains inadequate
[for] all end-use applications at their desired levels.¿
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LEFT TO RIGHT Global consumption of bottled water has increased
by more than 50% over the past five years • Millions of bottles clog
up streams and waterways all across America. • Despite the large
amount of water bottles used, the US is facing a lack of supply of recycled
plastic bottles. This has a lot to do with the lack of an adequate collection
infrastructure and the consumption of bottled water away from home
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WHY ARE SCRAP PET BOTTLES IN SHORT SUPPLY?
Why, when Americans are throwing away 22 billion plastic water bottles a year,
are there not enough scrap bottles for plastics recyclers? One problem is China¿s
seemingly insatiable appetite for PET, and the inability of domestic recyclers
to compete with the prices China is willing to pay. According to NAPCOR, US
exports of scrap PET bottles increased from 143 million pounds (65 million kg)
in 1998 to 298 million pounds (135 million kg) in 2004. Exports aside, there
were more than 3633 million pounds (1648 million kg) of domestic scrap PET bottles
that could have been recycled, but were not.
The broken link between postconsumer PET bottles and plastics processors is
the lack of an adequate collection infrastructure. First, nearly one-half of
the US population does not have access to kerbside recycling and probably never
will. These include individuals and families who live in very rural areas or
in high-rise apartment buildings. Even in communities that are served by a kerbside
programme, not everyone participates due to apathy, bad weather, confusion about
what can and can¿t be recycled, or just plain laziness.
But even if every family in America had access to kerbside recycling, water
bottles are much more likely to be consumed in hotels, offices, schools, and
during sporting events and outdoor activities than most beverages, and would
not likely make it into the kerbside recycling bin. Recycling in commercial
buildings is scarce, and recycling at sports, entertainment venues, parks and
beach areas has proven extremely challenging.
Another problem is that only two of the 10 states (Maine and California) that
implemented container deposit laws prior to 2002 have updated their laws to
include bottled water and other non-carbonated beverages (which didn¿t exist
when these programmes were enacted more than 20 years ago).
WHAT IS NEEDED TO STEM THE GROWING TIDE OF PLASTIC WATER BOTTLE WASTE?
Consumers need to appreciate the fact that their municipal water is not only
safe to drink, but it may even be safer than bottled water. They also need to
appreciate the multiplicity of environmental problems created by their consumption
of bottled water. But even if consumption were to be reduced dramatically, there
would still be billions of post-consumer plastic water bottles that would need
to be managed. Financial incentives, in the form of refundable deposits, provide
a collection infrastructure that works both at home and away from home.
In South America and Europe, many beverage companies, including global beverage
giant Coca-Cola, still offer their products in refillable bottles. (Most have
switched from glass to PET plastic refillables to reduce transportation costs.)
In the US, beer and soft drinks were packaged exclusively in refillable glass
bottles until one-way bottles and cans were introduced in the 1940s and 1950s.
Today, refillable bottles are just a memory for older American consumers. Younger
consumers have no memory of refillables at all.
Why, when Americans are throwing away 22 billion plastic
water bottles a year, are there not enough scrap bottles for plastics
recyclers?
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Refundable deposits in eleven states provide a financial incentive to return
beverage containers for recycling and a collection infrastructure. In 1999,
a report by Businesses and Environmentalists Allied for Recycling (BEAR) found
that approximately 28% of the US population lived in the 10 states with a container
deposit law, and consumers in those states recycled 490 containers per capita,
as opposed to consumers in the 40 non-deposit states who recycled only 191 containers
per capita. (In 2002, Hawaii became the 11th state to implement a container
deposit law. The law covers water and other non-carbonated beverages.)
One only has to look at the difference between the national recycling rates
for PET soda bottles and the rates for PET water bottles to see what a difference
a deposit makes. In 2004, the recycling rate for US custom PET bottles, which
include food and non-food bottles and jars, and all beverage bottles except
carbonated drinks, was only about 17%, while the PET soda bottle recycling rate
was 34%. The higher rate for PET soda bottles is due to the fact that consumers
in the 11 container deposit states are recycling their plastic soda bottles
at rates above 75% on average. This high recycling rate raises the national
rate for these bottles.
Recycling rates for plastic PET bottles and other containers are higher in
many other countries than in the US. For example, in 2004 the PET bottle recycling
in the US was 15% compared with a rate of 80% in Sweden, where deposits are
required on all aluminium cans and one-way PET bottles. Aluminium cans were
also recycled at far higher rates in Sweden ¿ 85% as opposed to 45% in the US.
WHY AREN'T THERE MORE CONTAINER DEPOSIT LAWS IN THE US?
Several states that require deposits on carbonated beverages are currently
seeking to update their laws. Meanwhile, other states are trying to pass new
container deposit laws, but the beverage and retail industries and their trade
associations, including the International Bottled Water Association, are a powerful
force in state legislatures and the US Congress. Through campaign contributions,
high-powered lobbyists, and expensive public relations firms, they are able
to keep proposed container deposit legislation bottled up in committees at both
the state and national levels.
There have been several attempts at national dialogues on the growing beverage
container waste problem involving BEAR, an organization that no longer exists,
and the Beverage Producers Environmental Council (BPEC), a group beverage producers
formed three years ago to address the issue of falling beverage container recycling
rates. Finally, the US EPA has attempted to bring stakeholders together to address
the beverage container waste problem. But so far nothing in the way of a solution
has come from these efforts. As the publisher of a US recycling magazine stated:
`In terms of beverage container stewardship, the industry, along with the National
Recycling Coalition, continues to talk, talk and talk, and study, study and
study. Critics, however, say enough with all this; they want to see action,
action and action.¿ (Resource Recycling)
The number of plastic water bottles sold in the US grew from 4 billion in 1997
to an estimated 26 billion in 2005 (Figure 3) while the number thrown away increased
from 3.4 billion to 22 billion. Plastic bottle waste is not just a national
problem in the US, it¿fs a national disgrace. Without a nationwide system of
deposits, expansion of existing deposit laws or some other dramatic new collection
infrastructure, America faces a growing mountain of plastic bottle waste with
all of the resulting social and environmental consequences.
Pat Franklin is Executive Director of the Container
Recycling Institute, based in Washington, DC, US. CRI is a non-profit organization
that studies container and packaging recycling options and provides a clearinghouse
for information on beverage container recycling.
e-mail: pfranklin@container-recycling.org
FURTHER INFORMATION
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