Problem Product/ Bottled Water Part I: Recycling

As a nod to those who have committed to reducing (or recycling) their disposable beverage containers as part of the ExConsumer project, the next few installments of the “Problem Product” will focus on Beverage Packaging.
 
Some of the most immediate responses to the ExConsumer Level 2 membership came from readers who routinely purchase large flats of individually bottled waters.  Many readers feel these individual-serving waters are an essential convenience, allowing them to stay hydrated as they go about their busy lives.  The convenience of being able to grab a bottle or two of water before heading out to the car (instead of having to take the extra time to fill up a reusable container) is very important for these readers.  The perceived need for bottled water is especially heightened in areas where residents feel the local tap-water supply is substandard.  Here in San Diego, and amongst those we’ve talked to in Los Angeles, the strong chemical taste of the local tap water makes it seem like a less-than-ideal source of hydration. 
 
Since so many feel that individually packaged bottles of water are more a necessity than a luxury, the first part of this series will not address the reduction of plastic bottle consumption, and will instead only address current trends in the recycling of these containers.   Hopefully this information will help us make more informed decisions about our purchase and disposal choices when it comes to bottled water.
 

 THE FACTS:
According to the Beverage Packagers Environmental Coalition (BPEC)[1], a coalition of industry stakeholders formed to discuss and investigate post-consumer beverage container recycling, plastic beverage containers currently make up 5% of the US waste stream[2]. Approximately half (55%) of the plastic bottles produced (including almost all of the individual serving water bottles) are made of PET plastic[3], meaning that they comprise somewhere between 2 and 3% of the waste stream in the US. Though these numbers may seem insignificant, it should be noted that overall solid waste production increased by 15% between 1990 and 2001.[4]
 
The disturbing fact in all this (and one of the very few points industry and environmental groups agree on) is that the rate of beverage container recycling has actually declined over the past ten years. While recycling rates have declined in all categories, the downward spiral has been most precipitous in the area of plastic container recycling.  According to the American Beverage Association’s report on this subject, 44.9% of PET bottles were recycled in 1994, whereas only 30.2% were recycled in 2003.[5]  The 2004 Post-Consumer Plastics Report from the  American Plastics Council puts the figure even lower, noting that only 22.6% of all plastic bottles were recycled in 2004.[6]
 
While the suspected reasons for this are many, the most significant factor in declining recycling rates is the gigantic jump in consumer demand and consumption of PET products, with the growth in PET container production up 377% from 1990.[7]  Taking this into consideration, reducing the amount of PET we as consumers demand would probably be the first and most reasonable step towards dealing with our plastic waste production.  If we look into the sources the tremendous growth in the PET beverage sales it soon becomes clear that one of the primary sources is the booming market for bottled water.  Bottled water sales grew between 8 and 10% per year throughout the 90s[8], and at an even faster rate since 2000, closer to 13 to 15%.[9]  bottled water is second only to soda in terms of gallons sold[10], and its beverage market share is expected to grow strongly through the decade.  The primary segment of the market fueling this growth are single serving water bottles.[11] In 1990, only 50% of the bottled water market share was comprised of single serving sales, in 2002 it comprised over 80%.[12]  The reasons given by various industry publications for the rise in single serving bottled water sales echo the responses we’ve had from our readers.  Much of the increase in water sales (as opposed to the more stagnant growth in soda sales) is linked to increasingly health conscious consumers who seek a convenient way to stay hydrated.[13]  Research also suggests that most consumers perceive that bottled water is both safer and better tasting than tap water.[14][14]
 
Is Recycling a Solution?
Given the powerful growth of the bottled water market, then, is recycling a reasonable way for us to deal with the ever-increasing amount of PET bottles entering the waste stream?  The unfortunate truth where bottled water is concerned is that PET recycling is an extremely resource-intensive process which doesn’t even come close to delivering the economic and environmental benefits associated with the recycling of other materials. Unlike the aluminum cans which can be re-melted and made into more aluminum cans, plastic bottles must be “downgraded” into non-food containers, eventually finding their way into carpets and fiber filling insulation.  An interesting discussion of the relative benefits of buying a 6 pack of cans over a 2 Liter soda bottle can be found at the following website: healthgoods.com (Though I’m loathe to admit it, Wikkepedia offers an excellent explanation of why it is so much more difficult to recycle plastics in their article on recycling.)
 
So generally speaking, it seems that choosing not to purchase single serving bottled water is a more ecologically (and economically) sound choice than buying the bottles and then recycling them.  But assuming that you (like many of our readers,) feel that the single serving water is a daily necessity, should you bother to recycle the leftover bottles?  According to the EPA, as well as the fairly sophisticated California Waste Management Department[15], you absolutely should bother.
 
The reasons for this are many, and one of the primary ones has to do with the increasing number of US landfills that are at or nearly at their holding capacity.  As the number of PET bottles in the waste stream continues to grow (and the number of available sites for landfills shrinks) recycling, stop-gap method though it may be, starts to seem like more of an obligation and less of a choice.  Even New York City, which gave up on plastic bottle recycling for a year in order to cut waste-disposal costs has now re-instituted the program after deciding that the long-term cost of landfilling plastics is much greater than the cost of recycling them.[20]
 
An interesting and subtle adjunct to this question of recycling PET is the question of whether or not beverage manufacturers (like Coca-Cola) should be made to incorporate recycled PET into their new bottles.  While Coca-Cola promised in April of 2005 to do just this[16], it is not clear weather it makes economic or environmental sense, or whether Coca-Cola has actually been able to deliver on its promise.  To hear a debate on this topic between an industry representative and a municipal solid waste management representative, check out the following link: http://www.moea.state.mn.us/res/recycledpet.cfm.
 
Based upon the research for this essay, one thing is certain: the beverage production industry wants to appear to be environmentally responsible by promoting the recycling of PET containers, but it does not want to be responsible for bearing any of the cost of this process.  It is amusing to look at the industry-funded “America Recycles Day” website, which promotes the general idea of recycling, and to compare it to the policies put forth on the American Beverage Association website.  The Beverage Association website is fighting bottle deposits tooth and nail, despite the fact that they are one of the few policies shown to help reverse the downward trend in PET recycling rates.[17]  The industry is also careful to show that most of the consumption of PET bottled products occurs at home or at the office[18], a statistic which they use to support their assertion that only an increase in municipally-funded curbside recycling can make a difference in the percentage of PET bottles that are recycled.[19]  In summary, and especially if you live in California, it probably makes a lot of sense to recycle those beverage containers after you use them. 
 
Perhaps the more important lesson to be garnered from all of this is that in spite of the convenience of single serving bottled water, it comes at an extremely high cost.  We will be re-visiting this issue from the perspective of  plastic bottle "reduction” rather than recycling in the next edition of Problem Product.
 
 
[20]------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Information on the BPEC is found primarily on websites of Plastics Industry watchdog groups, such as the National Recycling Coalition :
and the Container Recycling Initiative
http://www.container-recycling.org/newsletters/2005Winter/p1.htm#BPEC
and http://container-recycling.org/bpec/
[2] This data comes from the only BPEC report available on the web: a PowerPoint presentation which can be found at the following link:
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/partnerships/bpec/update110205.htm
The presentation is the second link down from the top, written in blue. Most of the data in this report is from 2001 and 2002.
[3] American Plastics Council 2004 Post-Consumer Plastics Report.  This can be dowloaded from the APC Reports Main Page
[4] EPA Solid Waste Disposal Report from 2003.  Derived from figures on page 2.
[5] http://www.ameribev.org/environment/rateschart.asp
[6] American Plastics Council 2004 Post-Consumer Plastics Report.  This can be downloaded from the APC Reports Main Page
[7] BPEC session PowerPoint slide 7.  See link:
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/partnerships/bpec/update110205.htm
[8] National Resources Defense Council Paper on bottled water: http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/chap2.asp
[9] Frost and Sullivan Research Services.
http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/report-brochure.pag?id=F218-01-00-00-00
[10] http://www.beveragemarketing.com/news2vv.htm
[11] http://www.beveragemarketing.com/news2vv.htm
[12] BPEC Powerpoint: http://www.nrc-recycle.org/partnerships/bpec/update110205.htm
[13] Frost and Sullivan Research Services.
http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/report-brochure.pag?id=F218-01-00-00-00
[13] http://www.beveragemarketing.com/news2vv.htm
[14] National Resources Defense Council Paper on bottled water.
[15] http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/WPW/
[16] http://www.container-recycling.org/plasfact/PETstraight.htm
[17] http://www.bottlebill.org/about_bb/campaigns.htm and the State of California Waste Reduction Website
http://www.consrv.ca.gov/DOR/index.htm
[18] This data comes from the only BPEC report available on the web: a PowerPoint presentation which can be found at the following link:
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/partnerships/bpec/update110205.htm
[19] http://www.ameribev.org/environment/bottlebills.asp
[20] NRDC site on NYC Recycling
Past Problem Products >>

Links:

The Green Guide ( a “green” consumer reports publication) has some very good articles on bottled water which address both health concerns about tap water, and environemntal concerns about bottled water.

NRDC the Natural Resources Defense Council offers both a general guide to drinking water, as well as a more specific FAQ about bottled water.

EPA website on drinking water. This has links to your municipal water authority data, where you can check on the safety of your local water supply. It is worth noting that the EPA walks a wide circle around bottled water issues in its website. The closest it comes to addressing the issue is in a promotional-type phamphlet on bottled watter intended for persons with impaired immune systems.

Association of Post Consumer Plastics Recyclers (APA) The main authority on plastics recycling. Check out their Press Releases section on the main page, where their position paper on trying to reverse the downard trend in recycling rates is posted.

California Department of Convservation: A brief history of California's Bottle Deposit bill.

PET in Mexico: An article on the effect of booming PET bottle consumption in Mexico.

Bottle Bill Main Page links to the advocacy group that has been one of the most longstanding and successful suporters of plastics recycling in California and elsewhere.