Polyethylene terephthalate, also called PET, is the name of a type of clear, strong, lightweight and 100% recyclable plastic. Unlike other types of plastic, PET is not single use. PET is 100% recyclable, versatile and is made to be remade. That’s why, America’s beverage companies use it to make our beverage bottles.
Even the Encyclopedia Britannica notes how unique and valuable PET is – “PET is the most widely recycled plastic. PET bottles and containers are commonly melted down and spun into fibres for fibrefill or carpets. When collected in a suitably pure state, PET can be recycled into its original uses, and methods have been devised for breaking the polymer down into its chemical precursors for resynthesizing into PET. The recycling code number for PET is #1.”
America’s leading beverage companies are working to get every bottle back so we can decrease our plastic footprint. We’ve joined preeminent environmental and sustainability leaders – World Wildlife Fund, The Recycling Partnership and Closed Loop Partners – to launch an industry wide initiative, Every Bottle Back, to increase the collection of plastic bottles so they can be remade into new bottles, reducing our reliance on new plastic and ensuring bottles don’t wind up in places they shouldn’t, such as lakes and rivers or wasted in a landfill.
Through significant investments, Every Bottle Back will help communities strengthen their recycling infrastructure by modernizing technology to collect and sort recyclable plastic bottles and providing greater access to recycling. Curious how a bottle is remade into a new bottle? Check out this video from PETCO South Africa, which takes you through the lifecycle of a beverage container.
