Environmental Impacts
Learn about the impacts of PET packaging on energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, even jobs and local revenues.
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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) report confirms PET plastic bottles are better for the environment than aluminum cans or glass bottles.
Read the Report Executive Summary
NAPCOR partnered with Franklin Associates to explore the environmental impacts of beverage bottles and cans in the U.S. The result is a Life Cycle Assessment report that provides fact-based, science-driven evidence that concludes, when compared to glass and aluminum, PET plastic delivers significant environmental savings across several key environmental categories.
Energy Consumed
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Water Consumption
Acid Rain
Smog
Eutrophication PotentialAbout the Report
A Life Cycle Assessment report (LCA) is a scientific method for evaluating the environmental benefits and tradeoffs for the entire life cycle of a product—from raw material extraction through material production, use, reuse, or recycling where applicable, and final disposition. This LCA looked at some of the most commonly used beverage containers for carbonated soft drinks (CSD) and still water. The study compared PET plastic, glass, and aluminum, and went through a rigorous, independent, and thorough peer review process that verified the methodology and findings over eight months.
Key Findings
- PET plastic bottles produce significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions
- PET requires less energy to produce than glass and aluminum counterparts
- Beyond PET’s beneficial reduction to global warming, PET plastic bottles also create less solid waste, use less water, and generate fewer emissions detrimental to air and water quality during production
- Total lifecycle impacts of a PET beverage container are better for the environment than glass or aluminum
- PET beverage container systems, accounting for the largest share of U.S. CSD and bottled domestic still water sales, compare favorably with the predominant aluminum and glass container systems for these applications
- Glass bottles have the highest impacts for most environmental metrics evaluated, followed by aluminum cans, then PET bottles
- All comparisons of PET CSD bottles with glass bottles and all comparisons of PET water bottles with aluminum cans show PET being better in most environmental impact categories
LCA Resources
PET Carbonated Soft Drink Comparison
PET Water Bottle Comparison
Other PET Resources
America Recycles Day Flyer
Myths & Facts Fact Sheet
Aluminum and Glass Fact Sheet
PET 101
PET by the Numbers
Thermoform Fact Sheet