PLASTIC BOTTLES

WHAT ARE PLASTIC

BOTTLES?
Aplastic bottleis
abottleconstructed by plastic.
Plastic bottles are typically used to
store liquids such aswater,soft
drinks,motor oil,cooking
oil,medicine,shampoo,milk,
andink.
first used commercially in 1947

PRODUCTION OF PLASTIC
BOTTLES

High Density Polyethylene

(HDPE)
is the most widely used resin for
plastic bottles. This material is
economical, impact resistant, and
provides a good moisture barrier.
HDPE is compatible with a wide range
of products including acids and
caustics but is not compatible with
solvents. It is supplied in FDAapproved food grade.

Low Density Polyethylene

(LDPE)
is similar to HDPE in composition. It is
less rigid and generally less
chemically resistant than HDPE, but is
more translucent. LDPE is used
primarily for squeeze applications.
LDPE is significantly more expensive
than HDPE.

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET,

PETE or polyester)
is commonly used for carbonated beverage,
water bottles and many food products. PET
provides very good alcohol and essential oil
barrier properties, generally good chemical
resistance (although acetones and ketones
will attack PET) and a high degree of impact
resistance and tensile strength. The
orienting process serves to improve gas
and moisture barrier properties and impact
strength.

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

is naturally clear, has extremely good
resistance to oils, and has very low oxygen
transmission. It provides an excellent barrier
to most gases and its drop impact resistance
is also very good. This material is chemically
resistant, but it is vulnerable to some
solvents. PVC has poor resistance to high
temperatures and will distort at 160 F (71
C), making it incompatible with hot-filled
products. It has attained notoriety in recent
years due to potential health risks.

Bioplastic
polymer structures based on
processed biological materials rather
than petrochemicals. Bioplastics are
commonly made from renewable
sources like starch, vegetable oil, and
less commonly, chicken feathers. The
idea behind bioplastic is to create a
plastic that has the ability to
biodegrade.

FACTS ABOUT PLASTIC

BOTTLES

 In the Los Angeles area alone, 10

metric tons of plastic fragmentslike
grocery bags, straws and soda bottles
are carried into the Pacific Ocean
every day.
Over the last ten years we have
produced more plastic than during the
whole of the last century.
50 percent of the plastic we use, we
use just once and throw away.
Enough plastic is thrown away each
year to circle the earth four times.

 We currently recover only five percent of

the plastics we produce.
The average American throws away
approximately 185 pounds of plastic per
year.
Plastic accounts for around 10 percent of
the total waste we generate.
Americans throw away 35 billion plastic
water bottles every year
Plastic in the ocean breaks down into
such small segments that pieces of
plastic from a one liter bottle could end
up on every mile of beach throughout
the world.

 46 percent of plastics float (EPA 2006) and

it can drift for years before eventually
concentrating in the ocean gyres.
It takes 500-1,000 years for plastic to
degrade.
Billions of pounds of plastic can be found
in swirling convergences in the oceans
making up about 40 percent of the worlds
ocean surfaces. 80 percent of pollution
enters the ocean from the land.
Plastic constitutes approximately 90
percent of all trash floating on the oceans
surface, with 46,000 pieces of plastic per
square mile.

 One million sea birds and 100,000

marine mammals are killed annually
from plastic in our oceans.
Some of these compounds found in
plastic have been found to alter
hormones or have other potential
human health effects.