PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2020

TOP TALK PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 04/20 www.petpla.net 20 The PET Forum calls for an independent environmental review of beverages’ packaging “Disposable bottles are better than their reputation” The Forum PET at the German Association of Plastic Packaging and Films (IK) which represents manufacturers of both disposable and reusable PET drinks’ bottles, called on the German Government to undertake a balanced assessment on the impact of disposable bottles on the environment. According to the Forum PET, an independent life-cycle assess- ment should be carried out by the Federal Environment Agency. The federal budget has already set aside € 400,000 specifically for this pur- pose. Debates on disposable versus reusable bottles are influenced by old prejudices, with many arguments still being made by supporters of reusable bottles which have long since been irrelevant, as the organisation states. However, demands are still being made for the introduction of a reus- able quota of 70% which are based on out-of-date information. An independent life-cycle review is meant to establish hard facts: The reusable lobby refuses to cooperate Unfortunately, the reusable pack- aging lobby has already said it will not accept the findings of such a review even if conducted objectively by the Federal Environment Agency. “They are afraid of fair comparisons being made between disposable and reus- able bottles. Everyone knows that another life-cycle assessment is likely to bring new evidence to light that supporters of reusable quotas will not like”, said Dr Isabell Schmidt, IK’s Managing Director, in her reaction to the lobby’s refusal to engage. “The reputation of reusable drinks’ bottles is now so strong that their environmental footprint is no longer being questioned. It is taken for granted that reusable bottles are more environmentally-friendly than disposable ones. However, this is not the case. A glance at the life-cycle assessment shows that transport logistics in particular can be the reus- able bottle’s Achilles’ heel. They are still appropriate for regional distri- bution purposes and in the use of so-called pool bottles. However, this starts to become a problem when large bottles are transported over long distances”, Dr Schmidt added. 10-year old data still influencing the debate It is 10 years since the last repre- sentative life-cycle review of mineral water and soft drinks’ packaging. Even then, it failed to come up with a definitive answer. Although the PET refillable bottle achieved the best rating, its glass counterpart was certainly no better in terms of its CO 2 footprint than the disposable PET bottle which has a returnable deposit. Many years have gone by since then during which the drinks’ market has evolved further in promoting dispos- able bottle systems. The deposit scheme provides a self-contained and efficient recycling process for disposable PET bottles. The re-use of recyclates in bottles is increasing all the time, having recently achieved a market share average of 26%. “There are PET bottles on the market now which prove that bottles can be made from 100% recycled material”, said Dr Schmidt. Individual bottles increase transport volume By contrast, the share of single multi-use bottles in the reusable sector has risen sharply in recent years. The reason for this is market- ing. Drinks’ brands in individual bot- tles are more easily recognised and therefore the consumer’s preferred choice. However, unlike pool bottles, individual bottles have to be returned to their original bottler and cannot be used by another outlet nearby which is resulting in huge increases in logis- tics expenditure. Current projections from the Soci- ety for Packaging Market Research show that daily traffic volume would increase by 2,850 truck journeys if the proportion of reusable bottles went up to 70%. This would increase CO 2 emissions by around 400,000 t/a which is the equivalent of more than six million domestic air flights. “The reusable quota being demanded would be the wrong decision from a climate change perspective”, said Dr Schmidt. www.forum-pet.de www.newsroom. kunststoffverpackungen.de Dr Isabell Schmidt, Managing Director at the German Association of Plastic Packaging and Films (IK)