PET Sustainability: Key Facts

Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. One of the most formidable definitions has been given by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, who defined sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". It relates to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human environment. 1

Reduce

• PET continues to be a good value for consumers. Between 1985 and 2006, the food-at-home CPI compound annual growth rate rose by 3.0%2 while the price of PET only increased by 1.6%3. Industry research and capital investment more than offset a 2.8% cagr in the major raw material inputs for PET.
• The use of PET in packaging significantly reduces energy demand and greenhouse emissions versus alternative materials like glass and metals. In a comprehensive study published in January 2005, GUA (Gesellschaft für umfassende Analysen GmbH)4 established that packaging beverages in PET versus glass or metal reduces energy consumption by 52% (83.2 GJ/yr in Europe alone). Greenhouse gas emissions were reduced 55% on the same basis (4.3 Million Tonnes CO₂ eq/yr in Europe).
• Developments in PET resin technology and conversion equipment have reduced package weights up to 31% since the introduction of PET 25 years ago. A two-liter perform that weighed 68 gms in 1980 now weighs 47 gms.
• PET cuts the transportation energy used in the global food supply chain in half. The total transportation energy (required to deliver packaging to filler and from filler to retailers) for an average kg PET in the form of beverage packaging is 13.7 MJ diesel compared to 25.4 MJ per kg substituted PET for the average glass beverage packaging.7

Re-Use

• PET beverage containers are returned and refilled in markets around the world. Depending on the recovery scheme (which varies by country), refilling PET bottles can be economically attractive versus one-way containers.10

Recycle

• PET has a high value as a recycled material and is recycled in large quantities. In 2005, the PET recycling rate in the U.S. was 23.1%, up from 21.6% in 2004. A total of 1.170 billion pounds of PET was collected in 20055. Recycled PET is currently being used to manufacture packaging, fiber and assorted industrial products. There is a brisk market for recycled PET that is limited only by the amount of material collected from the consumer.
  

Refuse

• PET does not require the consumption of food products in its manufacture and, thus, does not compete for these resources with developing countries. Demand for corn and other grains for ethanol and biopolymers is reducing the amount exported to Africa and Latin America.8 With fixed budgets, many relief agencies offset price increases by reducing their purchases.
• PET can be manufactured, converted and used globally without the environmental impact associated with converting large areas of open space. This includes the impact to the watershed, chemical migration and community impact (including taxpayer funded initiatives to mitigate the problems) from increased corn production used to make biopolymers.9

Additional Facts

• The production and use of PET has a negligible impact on global petroleum production and consumption. Approximately 4% of the annual worldwide petroleum consumption goes into manufacturing all plastics and converting them into finished products6.

• PET is widely accepted by consumers as a safe, convenient packaging material and contributes to the well-being and health of the world’s population by protecting food, beverages and pharmaceutical products.

Life-Cycle Analysis

PET has a very favorable life cycle compared to alternative packaging materials. The following table shows the life cycle assessment of PET in beverage packaging versus the alternative (glass or metal packaging).

Results of case studies analyzed	Total L.C.-Energy			Total L.C.-GHG-Emissions
	Plastics		Alternat.	Plastics		Alternat.
	MJ/kg pl.	Mill GJ/a	Mill GJ/a	g/kg pl.	kt/a	kt/a
beverage bottles (PET)	70	122	255	4.058	7.074	15.848

PET uses half the energy and generates half the greenhouse gases to manufacture and deliver beverage containers compared to alternative materials, such as glass and metal.

Table 114: Energy demand and GHG emissions of packaging materials in their total life cycle, when only the additional food saving by plastic packaging, but not the general food saving effect of all packaging materials is included in the calculations.11