Malaysia, Kuala Langat - Reusable Drinks Bottles

I remembered my childhood days when soft drinks came in glass bottles. These bottles were washed after each use and returned to the vendors or provision shops. These would then be subsequently returned to the drink bottlers or recycle companies for eventual recycle and reuse.

Nowadays, with the advent of plastic use and the focus on quick business turnaround, recycling efforts are few and far between. No longer do our drink bottles come in reusable bottles for reuse. Instead, plastic PET bottles are the norm. And although the words "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" are printed prominently on the bottles, these bottles are almost never returned for reuse and recycle. Often, they are headed straight for the bins and the landfills after only a single use.

Regretfully, it is usually in big cities where such recycling efforts are not widely practised despite these cities posting the biggest consumption of materials and goods. Instead, it is the small rural towns and communities which continue to reuse and recycle. This is evident in the glass bottles that continued to be used, reused and recycled. And I was happy to take this photograph of a crate of used glass bottles waiting to be re-used or re-cycled. And the place where this photograph was taken? Yes, it was a small fishing town in the Malaysian state of Selangor.

Used glass bottles waiting to be reuse and recycled, Tanjung Sepat, Kuala Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia (2020)