• 2,700 million plastic bottles were recycled in 2006 (108,000 tonnes)
• 20% of household plastic bottles were recycled in 2006
• An estimated 13 billion plastic bottles are disposed of each year
• Plastic bottle recycling schemes currently operate in 434 local authority areas
• 13.9 million households can now participate in kerbside recycling collections that include plastic bottles
• The quantity of plastic bottles collected for recycling has more than doubled since 2004
• On average, every household uses 500 plastic bottles each year, of which just 130 are recycled
• The 108,000 tonnes of bottles recycled in 2006 saved approximately 162,000 tonnes of carbon.
• There are approx 6,500 bottles in a typical bale weighing approx 250kg
• The majority of plastic bottles are made from PET or HDPE
• The average sales value of sorted baled bottles (PET & HDPE) over the last 5 year period has been £120/tonne.
• 346,500 tonnes of plastics packaging waste were recycled in 2004 (DEFRA)
• 11% of household waste is plastic, 40% of which is plastic bottles
• During 2006 plastic bottles worth around £50 million were disposed of at a cost of £100 million
• Reprocessor demand for plastics outstrips supply three times over
• High performing kerbside collection schemes typically generate between 10-15kg plastic bottles per household per year, with some schemes indicating they generate over 20kg/hh/year.

General

• 1 tonne = 25,000 plastic bottles
• Recycling 1 tonne of plastic bottles saves 1.5 tonne of carbon
• 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

This information has been supplied by Recoup - the UK's leading authority on plastics waste management - see more at www.recoup.org

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