Have you ever thought of all the people who work in the recycling industry? First, think about the local employees who collect your plastic bottle. Then those recyclables are transported to recycling facilities across the state where workers sort, separate, and package plastics. Those bundles then travel to a grinding facility where workers sort bottles by color and then machinery grinds bottles down into what is called flake.
Then the flake journeys to another facility where it is washed and turned into pellets. The pellets move onto another company where they are crystallized and turned into a number of new products. Your plastic bottle can become a new plastic bottle, or it can be turned into fabric to create socks, t-shirts, or even the carpeting in your car. The recycling industry in the Carolinas employs an estimated 3500 people, so your bottle means jobs in South Carolina.
Watch a video about the lifecycle of a plastic bottle https://vimeo.com/190005789">here.