Plastic pollution: Amazing things made out of plastic bottles

Around 13 billion plastic bottles are used in the UK every year, according to a report the UK government published in 2017.

While half of these are recycled, many still just end up in the bin.

For Global Recycling Day this Friday, we wanted to take a look at the pretty impressive ways some people make use of them.

Can you imagine wearing plastic bottles...or even playing with them?

Check out these cool creations using plastic bottles.

Toys...with a difference

Five bottle caps makes a pack of toys that can be played with instead of thrown away

While the body of a plastic bottle is widely recycled, caps sometimes aren't, which means that they often have to be chucked away.

But one toy brand uses plastic bottle caps to create products for kids to play with.

The company is called Recyclings, and each pack of its toys saves a minimum of five bottle caps going into landfill.

It says 30 million bottle caps have been used to make the range so far - that's a lot of toys to play with!

Roads made from plastic bottles

Plastic makes up around 0.5% of the new road mixture

In some countries plastic bottles are being used to make or pave roads!

In Los Angeles, in the US, people are building roads with plastic - the first one was laid down in front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Traditionally roads are made from a material called asphalt, but the new roads are made from a combination of asphalt and plastic.

The process involves making plastic pellets from bottles or bags that would otherwise go to landfill. They pellets are then melted into asphalt and that new mixture is used to make the roads - cool!

Prosthetic limbs made from plastic bottles

The new plastic sockets were tested out in India. These guys look pretty happy with the results!

Plastic bottles are also being used to help people walk.

They've been ground down and turned into sockets for prosthetic limbs by experts at De Montfort University, which is in Leicester.

To test them, engineers created unique sockets for two patients at a rehabilitation centre in India.

At the moment, the average cost to make a socket is about £5,000, but this new plastic bottle alternative means the cost could be reduced to just £10.

Scientists are now looking at how more can be custom-made for patients' needs.

Sport trainers

The Nike 'flyknit' shoes are partly made from recycled plastics

Some famous sports brands such as Nike and Adidas are keeping plastic bottles away from landfill by turning them into trainers!

Nike says that each pair of 'flyknit' trainers is made from about six plastic bottles.

Adidas has also combined with Parley, an organization which works with brands to help prevent plastic pollution, to make some of its shoes.

The company says each shoe uses about 11 plastic bottles before they have the chance to enter the ocean.

Plastic bottle clothes

Companies have found a way to turn plastic bottles into clothes you can wear every day - meaning they're definitely reusable.

A sustainable clothing company, called DGrade, 'flake' plastic bottles and melt them into fibre to create a special yarn.

This yarn can then be woven and threaded the same as polyester yarn.

The process uses 50% less energy and releases about 50% less carbon emissions.

And how about doing sport wearing plastic?

Well, the British women's football team the Lionesses announced in 2019 that their kit would be made from recycled bottles!

Eco-friendly flat-pack furniture

Instead of bottle sitting on a table, how about sitting at a table made of bottles?

A Mexican architecture firm has produced furniture, including children's tables and chairs, made out of 100% recycled plastic bottles.

The furniture can be put together without nails or glue.