PETE

• PETE COMPRISES APPROXIMATELY 30% OF POST-CONSUMER               PLASTIC RECYCLED TODAY BUT ONLY ABOUT 7 % OF ALL PLASTICS FOUND IN THE WASTE STREAM

• PETE IS MOST COMMONLY USED IN BEVERAGE BOTTLES:
  • 2 Liter "Padrino" soft drink bottles
  • 16 ounce Water bottles
  • 12 and 16 ounce beer bottles (starting in 2002)

   

• ANNUAL CONSUMPTION OF SOFT DRINKS IN Puerto Rico:
  • 42 million cases
    • Approximately 35% or 14.7 million cases 2 Liter size
    • Approximately 6% or 2.5 million cases other size plastic
    • Balance are aluminum cans

     

• 2 LITER PETE BOTTLES WHEN COMPACTED WEIGH BETWEEN 200 AND 400 POUNDS PER CUBIC YARD; UNCOMPRESSED THEY WEIGH ONLY 14 POUNDS PER CUBIC YARD.
  • IF ALL THE DISCARDED BOTTLES WERE COMPACTED, THEY COULD OCCUPY AS LITTLE 55,000 CUBIC YARDS - THE EQUIVALENT OF 580 TRACTOR TRAILER LOADS.
  • BUT UNCOMPACTED, THOSE SAME BOTTLES WOULD OCCUPY NEARLY 1.6 MILLION CUBIC YARDS OF LANDFILL SPACE OR NEARLY 17,000 TRACTOR TRAILER LOADS.

• PETE Plastic beverage containers discarded in Puerto Rico annually add up to about 10,000 tons of recyclable bottles OR 6 pounds per person per year
  • AT $.05 PER POUND THAT EQUALS $1.1 MILLION OF LOST REVENUE
  • AT A COST OF $ 6.50 PER CUBIC YARD FOR LANDFILLING, THAT EQUALS ANOTHER $4.7 MILLION IN AVOIDABLE COSTS OR AS MUCH AS 3 CENTS PER BOTTLE