Recycling WORKS
RECYCLING CAN be implemented in a meaningful way, as we have learned from the recycling of returnable beverages. The return rate for cans in 2016 was almost 100%. Recyclable plastic bottles (return rate 92 %) and refillable glass bottles (88 %) are not that far behind, either.
It is notable that glass bottles are used and filled up again, 33 times on average. Similarly, the aluminum used in cans can be recycled almost indefinitely; the returned aluminum cans are melted down and the material is used to make new beverage cans. This type of manufacturing requires only five percent of the energy used up by the original manufacturing process.