"During the past five years, up to 90 percent of PET [polyethylene] bottles were exported to Asian countries, including China," said Kateřina Šarounová, spokeswoman for Eko-Kom, a not-for-profit company responsible for the coordination of collection and recycling of waste. "The remaining 10 percent stays in the Czech Republic."

PET bottles are produced from oil, which makes them a valuable resource for many industries. The plastic bottles are sorted by color, recycled into granules and sent to processing factories that use them to produce nylon fibers used in textiles.

"Two years ago, there was almost no interest in waste plastic, but now the demand for our product on the part of foreign and Czech companies has increased dramatically," said Ludmila Aurová, recycling manager at waste managing firm Marius Pedersen.

"Even if we offer competitive prices, the Chinese prevail because they're willing to buy plastic waste in any form," said Petr Mareš, delivery manager at Silon Planá nad Lužnicí, the only Czech company that recycles PET bottles to produce nylon fiber. While Mareš said Silon has the capacity to process more, it is restricted from processing anything but pure PET bottles.

"We cannot buy mixed waste. So if the Chinese say they will buy everything, they get all the waste, including PET bottles," he said.

Valuable waste

That's because PET bottle producers are obliged to secure the collection and recycling of used bottles. They can either do it themselves or through Eko-Kom. Currently, Eko-Kom collects and recycles PET waste for about 20,000 producers. These companies pay Eko-Kom a regular fee for every metric ton of plastic bottles they launch into the market and send quarterly reports to Eko-Kom attesting to the number bottles produced. Eko-Kom then distributes the money among municipalities who organize the collection of waste.

Municipal authorities hire transport companies to take the collected waste to sorting companies where plastic is sorted according to type, including PET bottles, containers, foil and others.

Šarounová said that Eko-Kom's responsibilities end when the used material is collected and makes its way to a recycling company. How long it takes is none of Eko-Kom's concern.

"We don't care where the waste goes. For us, it is important to ensure it is collected and recycled," Šarounová said. "Whether it is recycled in China or here is not our responsibility."

PET bottles' extensive travel around the world, however, upsets environmental organizations that want the issue addressed on the European Union level.

"This problem cannot be resolved by the Czech Republic," said Ivo Kropáček, head of the waste program at Hnutí Duha, a Czech division of Children of the Earth. "The waste market is now European or worldwide."

Kropáček said that EU authorities should adopt regulations restricting exports of recyclable waste not because it is being used to produce cheap textiles but because shipping it creates a risk to the environment.