![PET bottles gathered for recycling.](https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/11/PET-bottles-20201130-By-Picsfive-shutterstock_1826865353-web-1024x683.jpg)
Last year, 1.77 billion pounds of PET bottles were collected and sold to reclaimers. | Picsfive/Shutterstock
The U.S. PET bottle recycling rate declined by a percentage point to 27.9% in 2019, though the amount of RPET used to make new bottles increased.