Plastics need not necessarily become an environmental problem. When used sensibly, they can even contribute to its solution. For when calculated over the entire life-cycle, their ecological footprint is considerably smaller than one might think – especially compared to other materials.
Two of the greatest advantages of plastic packages are: they can be produced energy-efficiently and consume far smaller quantities of material. A 0.5-litre glass bottle, for example, weighs an average of 170 grams. In contrast, a non-returnable PET container with the same capacity weighs just 20 grams – and is therefore 88 per cent lighter.
The low weight of plastic containers also has a positive effect on the ecological balance of their shipping logistics. For the lighter a product is, the lower the fuel consumption is and the lower the related CO2 emissions are during its transport. The difference is even greater when one life-cycle ends and a new one begins: non-returnable PET bottles can be compressed to bales, recycled to flakes or pellets, and finally transported back to the filler as preforms. They then do not reach their final size until they are back in the filling line on site.
The question cannot be answered in general terms. As so often, it depends on the specific application involved and its basic conditions. However, it is certain that the life-cycle of non-returnable plastic bottles can be structured so as to be sustainable. Seen from a global standpoint, the costs are even lower than with returnable containers. That's because for the latter, a complex infrastructure is required that would have to be set up from scratch in many countries – and that's very difficult to achieve, especially for structurally weak, underdeveloped regions with a high population density.
Recycling systems for plastics have a throughput many times higher than that of the bottle washers required for a returnable system. As they convert waste into new products, they can also make a considerable contribution towards eliminating the existing waste problem. And when consistently thought through to the end, a circulation system for non-returnable plastics could even be handled on a completely regional basis with low transport costs. For with Krones technology all process steps – from bottle production to filling to recycling – can be implemented at a single location.
Especially on the internet, it can frequently be read that PET could contain plasticisers or the hormone-like chemical bisphenol A. Both reservations are unfounded, and are based on incorrect or misunderstood information.
Plasticisers ensure that brittle plastics become pliable and elastic. As a result, they can, for example, be used for the production of cables or sports shoes. On the other hand, no plasticisers are used for PET. On the contrary: due to its material properties, PET is ideally suited for producing beverage containers. The addition of plasticisers would even impair this.
But why is there repeatedly talk of plasticisers in PET? Because there is a group of plasticisers that are called “phthalates” in technical language – and they are often confused with a component of PET: terephthalic acid. Due to their hormone-like effect for many applications, phthalates are rightly at the focus of criticism. However, even if their names sound very similar: phthalates and terephthalic acid are two completely different substances with different properties.
Bisphenol A, or BPA for short, is a basic substance used to manufacture polycarbonate and epoxy resins. As it can have a hormone-like effect, it has been at the focus of criticism for several years. The EU reacted to the controversial discussion by introducing a prohibition on using polycarbonate for baby bottles in 2011. On the other hand, BPA is not used for the production of PET.
Plastics are a large part of the worldwide waste problem. But they are not its cause. For when plastic ends up in the environment, this is due to us human beings alone – exactly like the responsibility for changing something about the problem.
The WWF estimates that of the 78 million tons of plastic packages used every year, 32 per cent end up unchecked in the environment.
Media and consumers increasingly express the desire to replace plastics with alternative materials. But in view of the waste problem, nothing would be gained from it: bio-plastics and other alternative materials also become a problem if they end up in the environment instead of being properly disposed of and recycled. In addition, plastics fulfil so many functions in our lives that a blanket renouncement of them would be neither practical nor feasible. As a result, it would be more urgent and above all more effective to change the way we think and act. For plastics are not in themselves dangerous – but the often much-too-short-sighted handling of them is.
Politics, business and consumers bear equal responsibility for improving this. At Krones, we are always thinking of practicable solutions. Whether material-saving packaging designs, energy and media-efficient enviro machines or recycling systems for PET and other plastics: Our solutions are targeted at making the sustainable use of resources as simple and profitable as possible. The driving forces behind them are our employees – the many doers at Krones, who continually demonstrate how much can be achieved with optimism, drive and a healthy portion of critical thinking.
However, if it's a matter of ensuring the future of our world, we bear the responsibility not only professionally, but also privately. For every cigarette filter flipped away, every beverage bottle lost on the road, and every package that is disposed of anywhere except in the collection of recyclables, contributes in part to the problem. And as a result, each and every one of us also has it in his/her own hands to change something about it.
