3 Step Plan
Our dependency has not shrunk despite our knowledge of the effects of plastic on the environment. I have a three-step plan that I feel can make the number of plastic in circulation go stagnant. Through making sturdier plastics we can reuse our plastic bottles and thus reduce the number of plastic bottles in circulation. I believe that if we change the bottle we can change the world.
HDPE is a rigid non-toxic plastic. It is coveted for its durability and accessibility (for more information on plastic types see the 'understanding plastics' tab). HDPE is most commonly found in detergent bottles. It is sturdier than the plastic that is currently used to make plastic bottles. I believe that by making our water bottles out of HDPE we can create more durable bottles that will be able to withstand multiple washes and cycles of sanitation without breaking. I think all plastic bottles should be made the same shape and size for efficiency purposes, this becomes clearer in step two. I also believe that every plastic bottle should be made entirely out of HDPE because this makes them easier to recycle. Currently, plastic bottles are made out of PET 1 and their caps are made out of PET 5. This difference in plastic makes plastic bottles difficult to recycle properly. In addition, this flimsy like plastic makes plastic water bottles difficult to reuse, and since they are considered 'single-use', we as a society go through an alarming number of plastic bottles (for more information go to the 'understanding plastics' tab).
Step Two
Have bottles placed in recycling bins and transported back to the manufacturer.
If we set up a bottle incentive deposit, similar to the 5 cents deposit we have now I believe we can encourage more people to recycle their plastic bottles. However a couple of changes have to be made, first, we have to make bottle deposits more widely accessible, people are less likely to recycle if they have to go out of their way to do so. Secondly, we need to increase the amount of money people receive form their recycled bottles. I suggest 50 cents, so that way the public is making back at least half of what they spent. Currently, people don't bring their bottles to bottle deposits because they feel they do not make a substantial amount of money. Now here is the big change I want to make. Instead of transporting recycled bottles to sanitation centers, our bottles should be brought back to bottle manufactures. This task becomes much easier when all the bottles are the same shape and size, this way all manufacturers have to do is remove the label on the bottle rather than sort and transport them.
Step Three
Have bottles cleaned, sterilized, refilled, and then resold
A large part of this step is changing the role of bottle manufactures to bottle sterilizers. The plastic bottles would be cleaned and sterilized, which would be easy to do with the bottles made out of HDPE. The bottles then need to be refilled and can be repackaged and resold in the market. This way companies no longer need to make new bottles, than can simply reuse the bottles they already have, thus making the number of plastic bottles stagnant.
Questions, comments or concerns? Head over to the comments section of this website.