What happens to plastic bottles when we throw them away?

What happens when we do not refurbish or recycle water bottles?

• When plastic is not recycled it ends up in the landfill with garbage or becomes waste in the environment. Without recycling, this "wasted" plastic cannot be reworked and reused. Instead, "new" plastic must be made, requiring the use of natural resources.

• Incinerating used bottles produces toxic by products such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals.

• Water bottles buried in landfills can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.

• The bottles leak toxic additives into the groundwater.

• Much of the plastic in landfills is unrecycled plastic bottles and bags. About 38 billion water bottles end up in landfills each year along with billions of plastic bags. It is estimated that it will take up to 1000 years for a plastic bottle or bag to decompose after it is buried in a landfill.

• It’s estimated that there are also 100 millions tons of plastic debris floating around in the oceans threatening the health and safety of marine life.

• http://www.cs.cornell.edu/~djames/bottledwater/

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