There is, however, one relatively environmentally unfriendly thing: at the earliest stages, the bottles must be washed, and that takes a huge amount of water. The critical factor determining just how much water is needed is the cleanliness of the bottles themselves.
「一般台灣民眾回收的瓶子都還算乾淨，耗水量可相對減少，但若是中東地區的寶特瓶，瓶內常積聚很多塵土及沙子，就得花加倍的水沖洗。」