They are carefully designed this way for a simple reason: so they can be used again and again and not become waste in oceans, rivers and beaches. It's why we want them all back.

In NPR's "Morning Edition" earlier this week, reporter Rebecca Davis visited a grocery store with CEO of The Recycling Partnership, Keefe Harrison, to discuss which plastics can and cannot be recycled.

"A soda bottle enjoys lots of different end markets. It could be carpeting. It could be a new soda bottle. It could be a filling in a pillow. It could be a fleece jacket," said Harrison.

She's right. Our bottles are being reused to make an array of common consumer products including shoes, furniture, park benches and playground equipment. And that means all those goods are using less new plastic too.

America's beverage companies are making great progress. Our industry's innovation has removed millions of pounds of packaging materials from the market and we're investing in local recycling programs in communities across the country to help keep our bottles out of landfills. Together, we can make sure that every bottle does what we designed it to do: be recycled and made into something new.