Americans purchase about 50 billion water bottles per year, averaging about 13 bottles per month for every person in the U.S.! That means by using a reusable water bottle, you could save an average of 156 plastic bottles annually.
Plastic water bottle sales increased by 2,767% from 1997 (3 billion units) to 2021 (86 billion units) – a 25-fold increase. Of the 86 billion plastic water bottles sold in 2021, 29% (25 billion) were recycled and 71% (61 billion) were wasted.
Around 500 billion plastic bottles are used worldwide yearly, with 35 billion empty water bottles discarded in the US alone. However, only 12% of these bottles are recycled, and 91% of the world's plastic bottles are not recycled.
In fact, it's estimated 1.3 billion plastic bottles are used each day across the world, which is about 1 million per minute.
Plastic Bottle Facts
481.6 BILLION plastic bottles were used worldwide in a single year. That's 40 billion per month and 1.3 billion per year. Only 9% of plastic is recycled (this number is declining) due to China no longer accepting US plastics. More than $1 billion worth of plastic is wasted each year.
Americans are drinking a lot of water, but they are on the fence about how best to do it. More than $2 billion in reusable water bottles were sold in the United States in 2022, up from around $1.5 billion in 2020, according to Greg Williamson, the president of CamelBak, which is a maker of reusable bottles.
Germany has the highest recycling rate in the world. The nation recycles an impressive 66.1% of its waste. How did it become the world's best recycler?
More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills and incinerators every day – a total of about 22 billion last year. Six times as many plastic water bottles were thrown away in the US in 2004 as in 1997.
In one set of tests, bottled water had less bacteria in it than tap water in three out of four samples. But it's worth pointing out that both tap and bottled water have to adhere to strict safety standards so both are safe to drink.
The National Academies of Sciences is another organization that weighs in on the amount of water you should drink each day, stating that about 2.7 liters for women and 3.7 liters of water for men per day are about right. That would be about 5-6 bottles of water for women and 7-8 bottles for men.
It's overwhelming to think that 1,000 people open a bottled water every second in the US, but this means that the average American uses 156 plastic bottles every year. All this contributes to a massive 500 billion plastic bottles being used each year.
Little ones who drink from bottles well into their second year may also have tooth alignment problems and even speech delays, since little mouths need to strengthen the muscles for clear speech.
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The Plastic Bottles Market size is expected to reach USD 14.81 billion in 2025 and grow at a CAGR of 3.64% to reach USD 17.71 billion by 2030.
Number 1 – PET (Polyethylene terephthalate)
This is one of the most commonly used plastic materials in the manufacture of packaging. It is usually found in bottles containing liquids such as water or oil.
State of the market
In 2023, U.S. bottled water sales volume amounted to approximately 15.9 billion gallons - the highest volume of bottled water ever sold in the United States.
When it comes to getting your daily fill of water, the safest option is from a store-bought bottle, right? Well, new research suggests that isn't true. In fact, tap water could actually be the much safer option of the two in most areas of the world.
Aquafina, which is owned by Pepsi, is municipal water that has been purified by Reverse Osmosis, which removes impurities and contaminants. We tested Aquafina at 1 ppm TDS, with a slightly acidic pH of 6.5. And it was soft and tasted clean and fresh!
1: PET or PETE (Polyethylene terephthalate)
PET or PETE is what's used to make bottles for soda, water and other drinks. It's also used to make cooking oil containers, plastic peanut butter jars and containers for other popular food items.
Every year billions of tons of plastic waste are landfilled, incinerated, or dumped in the ocean, where they leach pollutants into our water, air, soil, and food. Currently in the U.S., less than 8% of all discarded plastics are recycled.
Plastic waste can take anywhere from 20 to 500 years to decompose, and even then, it never fully disappears; it just gets smaller and smaller.
The best state at recycling is Maine, where 74% of the state's waste is recycled. Maine also recycles the most per resident with an average of 285 pounds of waste recycled per capita, and it's one of just ten states that has a deposit return system (DPS) in place.
Germany produces 30 million tons of garbage annually. The Green Dot system has been one of the most successful recycling initiatives, which has literally put packaging on a diet. The crux is that manufacturers and retailers have to pay for a “Green Dot” on products: the more packaging there is, the higher the fee.