Americans' thirst for portable water is behind drop in recycling rate

Plastic bottles pile up as mountains of waste

According to this MSNBC report (march 2005)

• only about 12% of plastic water bottles are recyled
• it's important to recycle
  • to reduce the amount of petroleum used to create the bottles
  • to reduce litter

It goes on to describe the issues raised by proposals for a national bottle deposit law; states that have such laws have recycle rates of 80-90%.

Source: MSNBC