How Plastic Bottles are Made

That was a great, balanced response, Daniel Kim. Thanks for the clear explanation that I'll use when similar conversations arise.

Ditto jermH !!

Factories are a work of art.

For food containers, only virgin plastic and post-industrial processed plastic is used. Post-consumer plastic is recycled to make other objects. One prominent use is in plastic "lumber" that is used to make decking. This material is durable, resistant to rot and insects, and can be nailed for construction just like wood. There are probably many other non-food plastic items made from post-consumer recycled material, where cleanliness, chemical purity, clarity, texture and consistency are not as important. I imagine that many automobile parts, interior fittings, bumper fillers and friction-reducing fittings are made of post-consumer recycled plastic. If virgin plastic food containers were not directed to the recycling stream, these objects would have to be made from virgin plastics, while usable materials are wastefully buried in landfills.

There is no need to denigrate recycling.

What part of ONLY 10% recycled material may be used, and ONLY FROM UNUSED PLASTIC is unclear?

Plastic recycling, like pretty much all recycling is a huge scam.

But hey, if you like pawing thru garbage in some fantasy where you think you're saving the world, knock yourself out.