Although raw paper and cardboard are more biodegradable than Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), food packaging created from these materials is frequently laminated with plastic or aluminium, rendering it non-recyclable. This packaging winds up in landfills, where it takes up more room than the same weight of plastic and degrades slowly. Cardboard is considerably more energy demanding to create than plastic, resulting in greater waste and the destruction of trees. Cardboard is also heavier than plastic, increasing transportation emissions.
Non-plastic packaging is also frequently abandoned rather than recycled, with smashed glass being harmful and ring pulls from discarded aluminium cans being swallowed by wildlife. This indicates that, as compared to glass and aluminium packaging, adopting Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) packaging and recycling leads in lower greenhouse gas emissions.
PET can also be recycled to make automotive items like car upholstery and seatbelts. And, most importantly, PET packing can be recycled. Creating a closed loop PET manufacturing system that can feed itself with rPET and is supported by high collection rates is critical to guaranteeing a more sustainable future for packaging.
