Message in the Drink Bottle

The Wall Street Journal writes about the bottle industry’s response to recent bad press and low numbers for bottle recycling with some proposed initiatives.

Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestle Water have joined a task force created by the American Beverage Association to generate interest in consumer recycling. Coca-Cola is even talking about building a plant that can recycle two billion 20-ounce bottles a year.

The other issue at play is that only 11 states currently offer refunds for depositing cans and bottles. States like California that have financial policies in place see recycling rates near 60 percent for bottles, while the rate is about 34 percent nationwide.

“Until now, Coke, Pepsi and other beverage companies typically fought laws mandating deposits on bottles and cans. Now, though, some beverage makers are starting to warm up to financial incentives for recycling.”

One thing to keep in mind is that beverage bottles can contain several different types of plastic. There’s the bottle itself, the label and the bottle cap and ring. An option to consider before bottle recycling is reuse, but if you are looking to recycle your plastic bottles use Earth911’s recycling locator box at the top of this page.