At FizStop our goal is to eliminate all plastic bottles. A million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and the number will jump another 20% by 2021, creating an environmental crisis some campaigners predict will be as serious as climate change.
Most plastic bottles used for soft drinks and water are made from polyethylene terephthalate (Pet), which is highly recyclable. But as their use soars across the globe, efforts to collect and recycle the bottles to keep them from polluting the oceans, are failing to keep up.
Only 1 in 5 plastic bottles are recycled. Plastic bottles can take between 400 and 1,000 years to decompose. It takes 17 million barrels of oil to produce plastic bottles yearly. This could fuel 1 million cars for a year.
It is estimated that by 2050 the ocean will contain more plastic by weight than fish. The plastic that finds its way into the oceans inevitably will pose a risk of ingestion by sea birds, fish, marine mammals, etc. It's not uncommon to see articles of sea life found dead with significant amounts of plastic in their stomach.