Making plastic acceptable

One question I have often asked myself is what level of plastic collection and recycling would make it acceptable ?

Recent statistics from Germany’s Forum PET show that:

• Almost 99% of “mandatory PET deposit bottles are collected for recycling in Germany.”

• “93.5% of disposable and reusable bottles are recycled – and up to 98% for disposable deposit bottles.”

• “34% of the recycled material is processed into new PET bottles”, with packaging film using 27% and textile fibres 23%.

• 80% of the PET is recycled in Germany and the rest is exported to neighbouring countries rather than Asia.

One answer is for all countries to ensure as much as possible is both collected and recycled. That won’t halt the debate, but it will reduce the problem.