Plastic water bottle pollution is real. Plastic has evolved from a threat to all living things on the earth, including animals and sea creatures. The problem is so bad that governments all across the globe are finding ways to make use of these non-biodegradable bottles. Americans alone buy 29 billion water bottles a year. And for every six bottles that people buy, only one is recycled.

That leads to a huge problem given the fact that water bottles do not biodegrade, but instead, they photodegrade. This means that it takes at least up to 1,000 years for every single bottle to decompose. And in the process, it leaks pollutants into our soil and water along the way.

Plastic was developed in 1907 and has since revolutionized our lives. Plastic has plenty of uses. It is mostly used for a variety of goods and functions, including storing food, automobile components, appliances, and even soda, juice, and most especially, water. Plastic has helped society’s and the world’s progress.

But now, the world is paying the price. Now, plastic has become a threat to our environment. Landfills are overflowing with millions of tons of discarded water bottles and other plastic materials. And because plastics are produced using fossil fuels, it does not only make them an environmental hazard, but also an enormous waste of valuable resources.

Even though plastic is a huge problem that the world faces today, it is not too late to fix it. Experts have done everything possible to find a solution to this issue. They have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to reduce the usage of this substance. They haven’t been able to find a solution, until now.

A United Kingdom-based corporation has figured out a creative technique on how to recycle old plastic bottles while also improving road conditions!

Toby McCartney, the CEO of MacRebur, came up with the concept while he was volunteering in India. While he was there, he saw people picking through garbage and gathering old plastic. From them, he learned that the plastics can be melted down and used as pothole filling. This gave him an idea.

His company was able to produce an improved asphalt with the help of modern technology. With plastic as its major ingredient, this increased the material’s durability and longevity.

However, not all plastics can be utilized for this process. But the good news is that the majority of them can. This includes black plastic, which has proven to be difficult to recycle. This helped improve asphalt that is made of granulated plastic waste and a road-making asphalt concrete mixture. This will make the improved asphalt ten times last longer and is shown to be 60 percent stronger. This may be excellent news for cars and commuters in the future.

According to a report published by the American Chemistry Council in 2019, the production of plastic is forecast to be more than double by 2050. This will increase to 756 million tons as it is anticipated in 2050, from 308 million tons produced in 2018.

This can pose a huge threat to the environment. But if more and more companies are able to find ways to utilize these plastic wastes, especially those that are difficult to biodegrade, then they will not be affected by the increased production of plastics in the future.