What are soda bottles made into when recycled?

Grade level: 4 – 5th grade

Skills: Circle graph

Related environmental issues: Recycling

Water and soda plastic bottles use Plastic #1 or PET (polyethylene terephthalate). As a raw material, PET is recognized as a flexible material that is 100% recyclable. When the Plastic #1 containers are recycled, they can be made into lots of things: fiber to make clothes and carpeting, sheet and film to make egg and meat containers, strapping, and more bottles.

The circle graph below shows products made from recycled plastic #1.

Screen Shot 2018-04-04 at 1.17.30 PM

  1. Among fiber, sheet & film, strapping, food & beverage bottles, and non-food bottles, which group makes up the largest portion?
  2. Which group makes up one-fourth of the whole group?
  3. What group makes up more than non-food bottles but less than sheet & film?

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Answer Key

  1. fiber
  2. food & beverage bottles
  3. strapping

Source) NAPCOR (National Association for PET Container Resources), 2016. Post-consumer PET container recycling activity report, 2016