insert the unit into the bottle

Random water bottle data

                     

* The number of plastic water bottles sold in the US grew from 4 billion in 1997 to an estimated 26 billion in 2005 (Figure 3) while the number thrown away increased from 3.4 billion to 22 billion. Plastic bottle waste is not just a national problem in the US, it’s a national disgrace. Without a nationwide system of deposits, expansion of existing deposit laws or some other dramatic new collection infrastructure, America faces a growing mountain of plastic bottle waste with all of the resulting social and environmental consequences.

* Another barrier to increased recycling is lack of sufficient access to recycling collection

opportunities for products used away from home. Consumer data continue to show that the public wants additional opportunities to be able to recycle at public venues, offices,

recreational sites, schools, and retail establishments.

* Infographic: Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour

* Of the $2.6 million spent by the U.S. House of Representatives on food during a nine-month period from 2009 to 2010, more than 20 percent — $604,000 — was spent on bottled water.

* Bottled water wholesale dollar sales first exceeded $6 billion in 2000. By

2007, they topped $11.5 billion. Category sales declined to

$11.2 billion the following year and to less than $10.6 billion

in 2009.

* The Pacific Institute has estimated 20 million barrels of oil are used each year to make the plastic for water bottles.

* Although Europe ranks as the leading regional consumer

of bottled water, the largest national markets do not lie within

the continent’s borders. In terms of volume by individual

countries, North America boasts the two largest markets, the

United States and Mexico, which together accounted for close

to 29 percent of the world’s packaged water market in 2009.

Although the U.S. bottled water market had been a catalyst

 * "more than 2.4 billion pounds of plastic bottles were recycled in 2008. Although the amount of plastic bottles recycled in the U.S. has grown every year since 1990, the actual recycling rate remains steady at around ( ONLY) 27 percent".