Bottled Water Industry Strikes Back ... Says Product Does Not Cause Global Warming

The argument has been around for a while now, but several US cities are encouraging people to stop drinking bottled water in order to help the planet. Today the bottled water industry fought back.

I'm still wondering why everyone is ignoring the new invention that solves the bottled water problem.

Remember this report about bottled water causing global warming?

Well here's the industry's response today:

The bottled water industry has hit back at claims that discarded plastic water bottles are contributing to global warming.

A statement was issued by the Bottled Water Information Office to say it is an environmentally friendly industry following the news that the City of New York is running a campaign to encourage people to ditch bottled water and drink tap water instead to protect the environment.

The BWIO said: “The very foundation of the industry is the protection of a precious natural resource and its use in a sustainable manner, and that ethos is applied in every aspect of the work of the industry.

“Bottled water is most commonly packaged in either plastic (PET) or glass, which is totally safe and conforms to strict regulations on health and safety. By far the majority of bottled water (93 per cent) comes in plastic bottles which is totally recyclable. Bottles also carry messages urging the purchaser to recycle after use. The rest (around 7 per cent) comes in glass bottles, which can also be placed for recycling.”

According to environmental groups, four out of five plastic water bottles end up on landfill sites and the production process contributes to global warming, but figures released by RECOUP show that 727 million plastic bottles were recycled in 2004.

Well there you have it. It's your fault that bottles don't get recycled ... not theirs. So quit crying about it.

There is an invention that solves this whole problem, and will provide precious oil ... yes oil.

New Scientist:

A US company is taking plastics recycling to another level – turning them back into the oil they were made from, and gas.

All that is needed, claims Global Resource Corporation (GRC), is a finely tuned microwave and – hey presto! – a mix of materials that were made from oil can be reduced back to oil and combustible gas (and a few leftovers).

Key to GRC’s process is a machine that uses 1200 different frequencies within the microwave range, which act on specific hydrocarbon materials. As the material is zapped at the appropriate wavelength, part of the hydrocarbons that make up the plastic and rubber in the material are broken down into diesel oil and combustible gas.

GRC's machine is called the Hawk-10. Its smaller incarnations look just like an industrial microwave with bits of machinery attached to it. Larger versions resemble a concrete mixer.

See problem solved. Buy bottled water, use, microwave, change oil in car, fill up gas tank. You can't get much more green than that.

Here's the video of the microwave at work: