In an ideal world, all materials would be recyclable and everybody would recycle. The harsh reality, though, is that over 75% of water bottles, perhaps the most readily recyclable product in the world, end up in oceans or landfills. So, while it’s critically important to design for recyclability, only in the best-case scenario are the products we design actually recycled.

Enter Planet Green Bottle, with their innovative plastic additive, Reverte. Combined with PET, Reverte offers a time-delayed biodegradability that breaks down plastic even in landfill conditions. By severing the bonds of a carbon chain into pieces that are small enough to be used as food for microbes, Reverte leaves nothing but CO2 and water behind. And, most impressively, the reaction can be delayed for anywhere from 2 or 5 years, so products can live a normal shelf life without fear of spoiling, leaking, dissolving, etc., and is still fully recyclable.

While recycling will always be the Cradle-to-Cradle ideal, Reverte factors in actual, albeit unfortunate, consumer behavior by offering biodegradabilty when recyclability fails. Makes it easier to design with a conscience, offering a good temporary fix until the system encourages 100% recyclability.

photo via flickr