Why we don’t refill old bottles
Author: Eliza Douglas Date Posted:2 March 2021
Everyone wants to do their bit for the environment by reusing old plastic bottles, however when it comes to reusing the old bottles that have previously contained chemicals it can become quite dangerous.
There are a few different reasons this process can get so dangerous this is because it can put workers at risk when they have to refill the bottle, as there may be a chemical reaction, between the new chemical and what was remaining, in the bottle. By putting a new chemical, in a bottle that had been used, can affect and change the new chemical which may lead the chemical to be taint or contaminate the new chemical that you are trying to store which could also result in a bad reaction or it could not work for its intended purpose.
Although you cannot reuse these bottles you can recycle them the same way you would with any other plastics. Before you do this however you should always make sure that you have drained all of the chemicals out of the container and make sure it has been washed out. Alternatively, you could take it to a community recycling centre and they could recycle it for you but you still need to make sure there you wash the container out and there is none of the chemical left inside.
It is very important that all solvents get disposed of correctly as they can be very dangerous and harmful to people and the environment around them.
