What you can do with recycled pop bottles.

I have been researching and have found that the things you can do by recycling pop bottles are amazing.

Did you know that with 25 recycled 2-liter plastic bottles, you can make a medium fleece pullover. With 85 of those same bottles you have enough to make insulation to line a large sleeping bag while 14 bottles can make one square foot of carpet. I found this out on www.aboutmyplanet.com along with a little bit on the process of recycling these pop bottles.

If you’ve ever wondered what happens to all of those plastic bottles that you faithfully sort and collect in your municipal recycling programs, then wonder no more. More than likely, your municipality sends its recyclable plastic – and other materials – to a Materials Recovery Facility. Here, the plastic is sorted and bundled before being sold to a plastic recycler. From there, it’s a whole new world of opportunity.

Today, recycled PET – which is the material used in plastic pop bottles – is high in demand across North America. That means your municipality will more than likely be able to sell all of the PET it can get. The reason the material is so popular is because there are many well-established end markets. One of the largest of these is fibre for carpets, blankets, upholstery and stuffing for not just sleeping bags but ski jackets, cushions and mattresses. In this case, the recycled plastic is made into flakes, melted and then extruded into hair-like strands. The fibres are then crimped, cut and baled so that they can be spun into yarn and knitted or woven into fabric.

I have heard of some major brands such as Patagonia Inc. using this method to make their fleece, Patagonia was the first major retail company to use this method. In 2001, 35 percent of plastic soft drink bottles were recycled, according to the American Plastics Council. The bulk of that was spun into fibers for carpets, clothing and other textiles. Overall, about 22 percent of the type of plastic bottle that can be converted into polyester is recycled. Manufacturers have the capacity to process about 35 percent more than they do now, if people would recycle their bottles rather than pitching them. Also, because polyester is petroleum-based, making clothing from recycled polyester cuts down on the consumption of raw materials. It is estimated that it has the capacity to save about 500,000 barrels of oil a year by recycling almost 3 billion plastic bottles.

Milk jugs, which are made from a different type of plastic, can be used to make carpet as well as fiber to fill pillows. All of this information really goes to show us how much we can save when we recycle. Everything from cans to glasses to plastics can usually be used again and again and again, in many different ways.

Think of how many of the earths natural resources you can save by recycling. Remember the list time you went camping? If it's been in the past decade you can bet that probably about half of the items you used on the trip were recycled products. Everything from the fleece in your sleeping bag to parts on your engine that got you to your campsite. To find out more about recycling, check your local services in your city or town and they should be able to provide you with the information that you need to recycle.

Wearing Used Pop Bottles - [About My Planet]
Whats the hot new fabric? Old plastic recycled fibers. - [Jobwerx]