In Hermosa Beach: A View of Americans’ Use of an Average of 800-Plus Bottles and Cans Annually

Americans’ thirst for single-serve beverages continues to remain unquenched. With U.S. residents now using an average of 822 beverage bottles, cans and cartons annually, and recycling rates declining nationwide, the risk to our oceans continues to grow.

What do 800-plus beverage containers look like? During this heat wave – as Southern Californians drink plenty of beverages every day to stay cool – on Aug. 3 the Container Recycling Institute (CRI) created a 12-foot-diameter mandala at Hermosa Beach Pier with soda and beer cans, plastic water bottles, milk cartons and more. (CRI is a leading nonprofit recycling industry authority based in Culver City, Calif.)

Only 37% of the beverage containers used annually by Americans get recycled. That’s 520 containers wasted per person each year – more than 2,000 for a family of four.

Litter from non-recycled beverage containers primarily ends up in our oceans, since a large majority of land debris gets washed into bodies of water, affecting both water quality and sea life. With plastic alone, if ocean species don’t die from the materials, the toxins in plastic they ingest make their way up the food chain – creating a risk for human seafood consumption.

To protect our marine life and ourselves from harm, consumers should advocate for recycling in all regions. According to CRI President Susan Collins, states like California with so-called “bottle bills,” where consumers receive refunds on their beverage container deposits when they return the empty containers to recycling locations, provide the optimal recycling process and litter-reduction measure.

Background Facts and Figures

Litter Amounts: Estimates indicate that 1 billion containers get littered each year in the United States.

Ocean Impacts: According to the Ocean Conservancy, scientists estimate that more than 8 million metric tons of plastic alone enter our oceans every year. Without any changes, there could be a pound of plastic for every 3 pounds of fish in the oceans within the next decade.

Solutions: The 10 U.S. states with “bottle bills” (including California) represent only 28% of the nation’s population, but nearly half of all beverage containers that are collected for recycling come from those states.

The nonprofit Container Recycling Institute is a leading authority on the economic and environmental impacts of used beverage containers and other consumer product packaging. Its mission is to make North America a global model for the collection and quality recycling of packaging materials.

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