Everywhere you look, people are drinking bottled water and soda. The problem is, most people don't recycle, so those bottles end up taking up space in our landfills. A new law aims to change that. "Almost anybody that is drinking some water now, they are drinking it out of a plastic bottle,” said Lynn Bestul of NHC recycling. With the hundreds of millions of plastic bottle circulating nowadays, not all of them are making their way into a recycle bin; many end up tossed in the trash. That's why the state is stepping in, to prevent landfills from filling up with plastic bottles. “It's really bringing an awareness to businesses and citizens that these are recyclable items,” Bestul said. New Hanover County encourages all its residents to recycle all kinds of plastic containers. The state is simply banning those plastic containers with necks from the landfills. The legislation was created back in 2005, to recover rigid plastics like water bottles that can be broken down to make more plastic bottles and materials like carpeting. Not to mention recycling water bottles is just better for the environment. "The less we put into the landfill, the longer the lifespan is going to be, which means we don't have to buy any more property, and it keeps the expenses down a little bit,” explained Bestul. Bestul says New Hanover County residents have caught on quickly to recycling programs like curbside recycling, but for those who don't recycle, he hopes this new law will encourage them to start. The state will be inspecting landfills starting in October. That said, the law is hard to enforce, unless individuals are caught unloading large amounts of plastic bottles at the landfill.
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