1. The Life Cycle of Plastic Bottles
Chris Nolan
Brent Littlejohn
Justin Bernardo
Sean Prellar Jr.

2. Research and Product Development
Materials
Plastic:
Shape of bottle to conserve amount of plastic used
Bottles are shaped differently according to desired function and manufacturer
Labels:
Use of recycled paper
Source of Water:
Spring water
Tap water

3. Marketing of the Water Bottle
Americans have spent approximately 11 millions dollars on 8.3 billion gallons of water in 2006.
The industries have tried to purvey the water bottle as a fashionable necessity.

4. Initial Manufacturing
Bottles are made from a liquid mixture of oil, ethylene, and propylene
Getting these ingredients and shipping them is a whole process in itself, causing pollution

5. Initial Manufacturing cont.
Made into small pellets which are then made into preforms to be shipped to manufacturing plants
All use virgin plastic, recycled plastic cannot be used for bottles
Preforms are commonly made in china and shipped by boat all around the world

6. Manufacturing Blow Molding
Injection: The preform of the bottle is injected with a heated, extruded, metal barrel.
Blowing: Cold air is blown into the mold causing the plastic to expand and take the shape of a bottle.
Ejection: The blow mold opens and the bottle is ejected, then leak tested.

7. Sales, Distribution, and Transportation
There are 1 billion water bottles shipped, trucked, and flown around the world in one week.
That is an equivalent load to 37, wheeler truck loads.
Water can come from all around the globe including some brands that cost 4 times as much as the equivalent amount of gasoline

8. Consumer Use
Americans consume 34.6 single-serving plastic water bottles every year
Between 1976 and 1996, U.S. bottled water consumption increased 10-fold from 337 million gallons to 3.2 billion gallons.

9. Disposal Only 15% of PET plastic bottles are recycled
Airport security measures contribute to waste
Disposal is not easy, incineration releases toxic gases and PET is not biodegradable and will sit in landfills for at least 1,000 years
Disposal and cleanup cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year

10. Recycling Incentives
‘Bottle Bills’ are bills that require a refundable deposit on recyclable drink containers
The 11 states that have passed these bills have significantly higher recycling rate than the other 39 states, 490 bottles per capita per year compared to 191 bottles per capita per year

11. Bibliography

12. Research and Development Marketing Manufacturing Packaging
Sales, Distribution, and Transportation
Consumer Use
Final Disposition