useful plastic statistics

• 2,700 million plastic bottles were recycled in 2006 (108,000 tonnes) (source: recoup.org)
• 20% of household plastic bottles were recycled in 2006 (source: recoup.org)
• An estimated 13 billion plastic bottles are disposed of each year
• Plastic bottle recycling schemes currently operates in over 430 local authority areas
• 1 tonne = 20,000 plastic bottles
• The 108,000 tonnes of bottles recycled in 2006 saved approximately 162,000 tonnes of carbon

• The majority of plastic bottles are made from PET or HDPE
• Recycling a single plastic bottle can conserve enough energy to light a 60W light bulb for up to 6 hours
• On average, every household uses 500 plastic bottles each year, of which just 130 are recycled
• 11% of household waste is plastic, 40% of which is plastic bottles
• 25 recycled PET bottles can be used to make an adult's fleece jacket
• up to 40% less fuel is used to transport drinks in plastic bottles compared to glass bottles
• plastic packaging uses only around 2% of all crude oil produced
• The quantity of plastic bottles collected for recycling has more than doubled since 2004
• 346,500 tonnes of plastics packaging waste were recycled in 2004 (DEFRA)
• Recycling 1 tonne of plastic bottles save 1.5 tonne of carbon

For more great facts visit our fact sheet pages in the news and facts section.