Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/399448
. HOW PLASTICS CAN HELP enhance a package's environmental performance Many types of plastic packaging help to reduce packaging weight, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. MILLION TONS MORE ALT MATERIALS PLASTICS * Alternatives would result in 130% more global warming potential. That's like adding 15.7 million cars to our roads. The use of non-plastics alternatives would increase energy use by 82%, equivalent to the energy from 91 oil tankers. For more information, visit PlasticPackagingFacts.org ALTERNATE MATERIALS PLASTICS Over 94% can recycle plastic bottles Over 70% can recycle plastic bags and wraps Over 60% can recycle other plastic containers And most Americans can recycle plastics after use. Substituting a variety of plastics packaging** with non-plastics alter- natives would increase the amount of packaging generated annually in the U.S. by 55 million tons. This means that plastics help to significantly reduce packaging weight, which results in more product shipped with less packaging, fewer trucks on the road, less energy used, less greenhouse gas emissions and less material to recover or recycle. Plastic packaging's environmental performance continues to improve with increased recycling and recovery. Over 5 billion pounds of plastics were recycled in the United States in 2012. And beyond recycling, innovative technologies are being developed to recover non-recycled plastics by converting them into energy, engineered fuels, and ingredients for new products † . Study: "Impact of Plastics Packaging on Life Cycle Energy Consumption & Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the United States and Canada," Franklin Associates, 2014. This study measures energy use and GHG emissions and is not an ISO 14044 life cycle assessment. † For recycling statistics see: http://plastics.americanchemistry.com/education-resources/publications. *Alternative materials include glass, paper/cardboard packaging products, steel, and aluminum. **The study assessed the energy requirements and greenhouse gas emissions of six general categories of plastic packaging produced and sold in the United States and Canada. These include caps and closures, beverage containers, other rigid containers, carrier bags, stretch/shrink wrap, and other flexible packaging. 6 Newsline Even at the end of the lifecycle, plastic packaging has a more positive impact on the environment versus alternative materials. Plastic packaging leaves less material to recover and recycle, meaning that it takes less effort to capture the value of the spent resource. And it's never been easier to recycle more of the plastics we use every day. Today, 94 percent of Americans can recycle plastic bottles. More than 60 percent can recycle other plastic containers like yogurt tubs, detergent bottles and milk jugs. More than 90 percent have access to recycling programs for plastic bags and other film. That's a significant amount of products destined for new lives in a multitude of purposes, and the recycling and plastics industries are constantly striving to boost those numbers. The comprehensive study contains more than 50 tables and 16 charts and illustrations, and it examines each of the major life cycle stages for packaging: raw material production, packaging fabrication, distribution transport, postconsumer disposal, and recycling. It also offers a glimpse into the potential unintended consequences of proposed and recently enacted bans on plastic packaging products. While a plastic bottle ban might keep bottles out of waterways, the increase in energy use to manufacture, transport and even recycle their glass counterparts would be dramatic. In the drive to create environmentally efficient packaging, plastic is leading the way. From start to finish, plastic can help enhance a package's environmental performance. This study shows the enormous benefits that reducing or optimizing a package design at the beginning of the process can have throughout its entire life-cycle." ~ Steve Russell, Vice President of ACC's Plastics Division "