Is it worth recycling a plastic bottle if it has to be rinsed?

It will be ground up and melted at high temperature

So you don’t have to make it squeaky clean

Don’t throw it in a landfill…it will save some oil if you recycle it

The rinsing is so the storage places for it before it is ground up and melted and turned into pellets….to be melted again

and molded

So those storage places don’t become smelly garbage heaps

It is more an act of kindness and housekeeping for the poor

SOB that has to deal with our/your consumer byproducts

We all live on the planet together

EVERYTHING you or I do effects someone else

What if right before the clerk put your plastic bottles in the bag

He dipped them in a sticky foul smelling liquid that had been in a smelly vat for a month

or put rancid grease on the handles of your grocery bags

or the mail man took a leak on your porch

It is just a common courtesy ….decent fellow human request

It truly depends on how you use your water; if you let the tap run incessantly and use loads to wash one thing, then no. If, however, you hold on to your plastic bottles until you have a certain number, say 6 of them, run about one-third the bottle’s capacity full of water, put the lid back on it, shake it well, then pour that water into the next bottle and do the same for each successive bottle, then definitely, yes! You will have saved time, water and done your part in recycling your plastic bottles.

We do this for all plastic soda bottles, aluminum cans, glass bottles, etc. You marry recycling the plastic (kudos to you!) with water conservation techniques… and you get the greenest way to go about it. Greener still? Invest in some reusable water bottles and fill them with filtered water from your tap; surprisingly, a lot of the bottled water we buy in the grocery are just that! Case in point: PepsiCo.’s Aquafina brand bottled water; we actually lived a block from the plant where it’s bottled and we know where they get their water!

Hope this helps!

Yes it is but pay attention to remove all the labels from the start because that will increase the impurities from the recycled plastics. Usually the recycle companies have a good washing process before melting the scraps. If you use a tap water finally will go to a waste water treatment plants and the chemical residues will be retained and/or deactivated. Dfriend:)

Many times, you don’t have to rinse the bottle – check with the organization that collects your recycling. For the majority of them in the U.S., the only requirement is that there isn’t food debris sticking to the container to be recycled. So for things like bottles, there’s no reall need to rinse bec. they held a liquid.

Tin cans that held veggies or tuna, & plastic food tubs usually need rinsing. However, it’s only requires a very small amount of water — you *don’t* need to actually wash the containers. Even in drought conditions, the water used to rinse can be immediately poured over plants to water them, not wasted.

It’s great to think about the different impacts of our actions, but in this case, the larger positive impact is the recycling vs. water waste.

Source(s): http://green. /
http://earth911.com/

I always wonder the same thing myself, I used to live in the UK and I remember there was a big thing about the cost to the environment by washing it versus the cost of the environment by not recycling it. I always use the absolute minimal amount of water to get it clean, just a little and give it a good shake.

Source(s): experience

I don’t know what goes into the manufacture of a plastic bottle; what resources it uses up.

But I do know, I live ten minutes from a desalination plant in a country that is very drought affected – we have no snowfall to help our water supply.

Every drop is precious, so I rinse sparingly before recycling.

Yes, because you aren’t cleaning it to eat out of. You are just removing the residue that will attract pests. I plug my sink when I’m rinsing dishes or hand washing pans, I use that water to rinse my recycling. So there is no waste of water, just a second use.

I know…

but yes. If we remember the big picture, we won’t stop recycling simply because the technology hasn’t caught up with itself (efficient recycling from the get go).

While shortages occur, water is still present… but the plastic musn’t be.

Yes, because all you have to do is put a little water in the bottle, put the top on it, shake it, then pour out the water.

I have rain barrels set up so yes I don’t worry about wasting the water. I use the rain barrels to flush toilets and rinse recyclables and most other non drinking uses.