US recycling credit

I’ve criticised poor performance in the past, so now I’d better praise real progress.

The latest figures from the National Association for PET Container Resources show that 38.6% of single-serve plastic water bottles in the United States were recycled in 2011, a commendable 20% increase on the 32.2% achieved in 2010 and double the rate of seven years before.

Also of significance, the average weight of a standard size 50cl PET bottle has fallen below 10 grams for the first time, 47.8% less than in 2000, according to Beverage Marketing Corporation.

If you can bear another statistic, PET for bottled water accounts for under 1% of all plastic produced in the United States and only one third of 1% of all US waste, reports the US Environment Protection Agency. Oh, that’s two statistics. Better be accurate. Sorry.