History of bottle recycling in the United States
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The history of bottle recycling in the United States has been characterized by four distinct stages. In the first stage, during the late 18th century and early 19th century, most bottles were reused or returned.[1] When bottles were mass-produced, people started throwing them out, which led to the introduction of bottle deposits.[2] However, during the second stage, after World War II, consumption patterns changed and nonreturnable containers became popular, which littered the environment.[2][3] Some states implemented "bottle bills" that instituted deposits.[3] The beverage-container industry first implemented private recycling programs and then pushed for municipal curbside recycling as an alternative to "bottle bills".[4] More recently, PET bottles have largely replaced other materials.[5][6] The United States used to be the front-runner when it came to recycling PET, but European countries have since outpaced the US.[5]