PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2019

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 10/19 www.petpla.net 24 The pros and cons of PET bottles and aluminium cans The bottle battle Is there an alternative to PET water bottles? One which is even more eco-friendly and economical at the same time? Are aluminium cans the answer? Uday Patel, Senior Research Manager for Global Aluminium Markets at Wood Mackenzie and Pieterjan Van Uytvanck, Principal Analyst for Chemicals at Wood Mackenzie, consider key points of comparison. The humble single-use PET water bottle has become a powerful symbol at the heart of the debate on plastics and packaging material. According to a Euro- pean Commission study, PET bottles and their lids are some of the most com- monly found items among ocean debris. Meanwhile, PET bottle consump- tion is increasing. As shown in Wood Mackenzie’s report on the EU’s single use plastic directive, in Europe it’s now around 140 units per person, per year. In the US it’s 290 units. Globally, around 57% of these are collected, according to the latest figures from Wood Mackenzie’s rPET Global Supply Demand Analytics Service. Political pressure will see that figure rise. One of the most ambitious targets of the EU directive is the call for 90% of PET beverage bottles to be col- lected by 2029. Significant investment in new waste management infrastructure is needed to meet this goal. But collection doesn’t guarantee recycling. In the US, 70% of the plastic collected for recycling goes to landfill. It’s 30% in the EU. Many argue that the real mission is to find a cleaner, greener alternative. Aluminium is one contender. The Coca-Cola Company’s Dasani water brand, for example, will soon be available in cans in the US as part of its efforts to reduce plastic waste. The environmental impact - how does a can compare to a plastic bottle? The experts find that on a first-use basis, neither material scores highly. Plastics rely on crude oil extraction. It’s an energy-intensive process, from drill- ing and refining to extrusion and mould- ing. A 2017 life cycle assessment study on PET resin from the CPME showed that producing virgin material requires 69.6GJ/tonne. Aluminium is extracted and refined from mined bauxite ore. It’s compli- cated, costly and energy-intensive. Wood Mackenzie calculate that it takes an average of 14,000kWh of electric- ity to produce one tonne of aluminium. Life cycle assessment studies from the Aluminum Association indicate that the total primary demand for aluminium production is 138GJ/tonne. Electroly- sis accounts for the majority of the total primary energy requirements and it has also been shown that 36% (depend- ing on location and value chain) of this energy demand can be sourced from renewable sources, often hydro. In terms of temperatures, polymer can be produced and extruded at around 250- 300°C. Aluminium smelting requires temperatures over 1,000°C. Recyclability: PET PET has the highest recycling levels of any of the six most common resins used in packaging. By 2029 Wood- Mac forecast that 68% of PET bottles will be collected globally. There will be some disparity in regional collection rates, however: 30% in the US, 57% in Europe and 82% in China. Some go into closed loop recycling, creating new food grade bottles. Others go into open loop recycling, destined for sheet or fibre applications. The environ- mental impact varies. Fibres that end up in duvet filling will probably stay out of landfill much longer than a poor quality “fast fashion” t-shirt. In 2018, 19.7 million tonnes of food and beverage PET bottles were produced, with 845,000 t mechanically recycled back into food and beverage bottles. By 2029 WoodMac predict that will reach 30.4 million tonnes, with more than 3 million tonnes mechani- cally recycled. Demand for recycled PET (rPET) is growing. The EU directive includes a target to incorporate 25% of recycled content in all PET beverage bottles from 2025, increasing to 30% from 2030. Leading brands such as Coca- Cola, Danone and PepsiCo have all called for a 50% use of rPET in their bottles by 2030. The analysts thus forecast a six-fold increase in demand for rPET in Europe by 2030 as a result. Recyclability: aluminium Aluminium recycling is a true closed loop. According to the Alu- minum Association, it’s one of the most recycled materials on the market. Recycling it saves more than 90% of the energy required to pro- duce new metal.