20-500 years to decompose depending on the environment it is exposed to. According to Forgerecycling.co.uk, it takes around 20 years for a standard supermarket bag to fully decompose. A traditional plastic water bottle made from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) takes about 450 years to decompose. Plastic has limited ability to be recycled and can only be recycled once to twice (earth911.com: How Many Times Can That Be Recycled?) due to the polymer chains shortening each time it is recycled, thus degrading its quality. Some plastics can be recycled more than others. PET and HDPE can withstand multiple recycling. Virgin plastic mixed into recycled plastic can be added to improve the quality of recycled plastic.
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