国产麻豆

Plastic water bottles can be found almost everywhere in Ontario 鈥� stacked on pallets at the grocery store or filling up recycling bins at your local park.

鈥淭here probably is more plastic in our lives now than there ever has been,” said Jo-Anne St. Godard,聽executive director of the (RCO). “They鈥檙e more recyclable than I think people give them credit for.鈥�

RCO is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization that focuses on policy, education, and project work concerning consumption, waste generation, reduction and diversion and recycling.

In a generation, plastic bottles have all but replaced glass as the preferred packaging for most liquid consumer goods. For manufacturers of these goods, plastic bottles offer a cost-effective and durable packaging solution. For consumers, these bottles are incredibly convenient, though that benefit often overshadows awareness of what it takes to produce them, how they should be used and what happens when they aren’t recycled properly. Here are six facts you probably didn’t know about plastic bottles:

1. Not all plastic bottles are made of the same stuff

• The chemical make-up of plastic bottles varies on the type and shape, according to St. Godard, but some of the most common plastics include low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE) 鈥� widely-recognized in the industry as resins.
• PET, for example, is used in bottles for water, soft drinks, mouthwash, detergent, mayonnaise and mustard jars, berry boxes with lids, microwavable food trays and other products.
• Milk, water and juice containers, bleach, liquid detergent and household cleaner bottles, shampoo bottles, ice cream containers and some trash and shopping bags, among other items, are comprised of HDPE.

2. Plastic is incredibly popular, especially for bottled drinks

• There is no greater indication of the ubiquity of plastic bottles than the use of bottled water.
• According to a February 2016 , the consumption and sale of bottled water (includes carbonated, flavoured, functional and still) in Canada continues to grow.
• Consumption in 2015 increased by 3 per cent to reach 2.5 billion litres, while retail sales grew by 2 per cent to hit a value of C$2.4 billion.
• Godard said companies will use plastic for numerous reasons when selling a beverage, partly due to the public response, which 鈥渙verlaps鈥� with the consumer.
• 鈥淥ne of the things we鈥檝e heard over and over from the beverage industry is that people like to be able to put a cap on and (take it) off,” said St. Godard. “When they open a can, they truly have no choice but to drink the entire contents of the beverage container (at once).鈥�

3. For manufacturers, plastic bottles make economical sense

• Compared to glass, plastic is valued for its transportability and economical viability, as it鈥檚 more efficient than outsourcing or mining for other recyclable materials.
• 鈥淢etal fetches a higher value in the recycling stream, likely always will, but at the same time, they are more expensive because it鈥檚 a more (costly) material to create,鈥� said St. Godard.
• Regardless of the bottle type, St. Godard said companies and beverage producers have put a lot of work into creating a package that has the 鈥渢hinnest possible鈥� amount of materials for the container, while still retaining its structural integrity.
• 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a ton of thin-walling happening in the industry,” said St. Godard. “That鈥檚 for environmental reasons, but for economic (purposes) as well.”

4. Plastic bottles have high recycling value

• PET plastic bottles containing water, pop, juices and other liquids are labelled with the resin identification code No. 1 within the recycling logo to indicate their high value in the reprocess industry, St. Godard said.
• (A list of common plastics in Ontario and their associated resin identification codes can be found
• 鈥淭hey hold their value well. Plastic recyclers want them. It鈥檚 important they get them cleaned, so all of the beverage is actually vacated out of the bottle and they get an empty container,鈥� said St. Godard.
• The contains monthly spot market prices for various recyclable materials in various municipalities. Produced by Reclay StewardEdge Inc., the CIF helps distributes the report.
• The average price for PET (mixed) in July was C$295 per metric tonne, while HDPE (mixed) yielded C$470 per metric tonne.
• St. Godard noted the PET resin has held its worth 鈥渧ery, very well鈥� over the years, which is only behind aluminum and newspaper in terms of the most valuable packaging in the blue box.
• 鈥淭hey are coveted by the industry and fairly universally-accepted in all blue boxes or as part of a return program across the country. The more rigid plastics tend to be much, much more recyclable,鈥� said. St. Godard.

5. A surprising amount of plastic bottles don’t make it into the recycling bin

• From an environmental perspective, if not recycled, plastics take a 鈥渓ong time to break down, if at all,鈥� she said, noting even when they break down, they don鈥檛 disappear.
• According to a 2015 study in the Journal , between 5 to 12 million metric tons of plastic waste, including plastic bottles, entered the ocean out of 275 million metric tons of plastic waste generated by 192 countries in 2010.
• (WDO) says the average time for a plastic bottle to completely break down is at least 450 years, but some may take as long as 1,000 years to biodegrade.
• 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like the elements of a plastic bottle and the associated chemicals can鈥檛 reshape, it just takes them a long, long time to break down. There are a number of reasons why we want to get them out of the disposal stream,鈥� said St. Godard.
• Published in 2014, CM Consulting’s report, , stated non-alcoholic beverage containers obtained through the residential Blue Box Program in 2012 had an overall collection rate of approximately 56 per cent.
• Fifty per cent of PET bottles (non-alcoholic) were received through curbside recycling, while 52 per cent (alcoholic) was collected through a deposit return program.
• The national average for collecting PET bottles sat at approximately 62 per cent in the same year.
• The current PET recycling rate for bottles and jars captured in the Blue Box Program is 66 per cent, exceeding the Province’s mandated target of 60 per cent for all blue-box materials, according to Stewardship Ontario (SO).
• The Blue Box Program was developed by SO, in conjunction with WDO, which implemented and oversees the initiative.
• 鈥�(Also), because Stewardship Ontario only collects data for material that is in the residential waste stream (Blue Box), our program does not capture the entirety of plastic beverage containers recycled in Ontario,鈥� said David Pearce, SO spokesperson, through email. 鈥淎 great deal of PET and HDPE materials are consumed out of home and are effectively recycled through other collection systems, such as offices, hospitals, etc.鈥�
• In 2014, SO says more than 53,000 tonnes of PET was supplied to Ontario residential consumers (reported to it by SO stewards), of which, 60 per cent or 33,000 tonnes, is estimated to be beverage containers.
• Meanwhile, more than 29,000 tonnes of HDPE was supplied by member businesses that year, and of that, 15,469 tonnes or 52 per cent of it was recycled.
• Pearce noted businesses report to it the amount of PET and HPDE they sell in the marketplace (by weight), so the type of packaging or product the plastics are used for isn鈥檛 specified.
• The data SO has also represents other recyclable packaging made from PET and HDPE.

6. Health risks associated with plastic bottle use have been minimized, but not eliminated

• The majority of plastic containers used in the sale of bottled water in Canada are made from PET or polyethylene (PE), which does not contain Bisphenol A (BPA), according to
• However, large-sized jugs (18 litres) and some sport bottles can be made from polycarbonate plastic (PC), which may have trace amounts of BPA.
• With polycarbonate water bottles, minuscule amounts of BPA can potentially leak into the water or food and consumers could be exposed to trace amounts of the chemical through their normal diet.
• But Health Canada鈥檚 food directorate concluded, after reviewing data, that dietary exposure to BPA from food packaging sources, including PC water bottles, does not pose a health risk to consumers.
• St. Godard said BPA was a chemical commonly used in the plastic bottle a number of years ago, part of the coding that was proven to seep into the water or beverage inside the container, when heated.
• 鈥淭here was a pretty quick rush by the industry to remove that particular chemical out of the container, and quite successfully (it did). In fact, it didn鈥檛 actually affect the container whatsoever,鈥� said St. Godard.
• 鈥淭here is certainly potential (for health risks). Plastic is an oil-based container and there are chemicals added to it to help create its form. The possibility of a leak is more prevalent (in plastic) than aluminum and/or glass.鈥�
• The federal health agency doesn鈥檛 recommend, however, the reuse of single-use bottles because of a potential microbiological risk, if not cleaned properly.

To read the full story, visit .