Amcor Rigid Packaging leader: PET needs unified voice on sustainability

Austin, Texas — Each time someone drinks from a PET bottle, there is a chance to send a sustainability message and make a difference, according to the president of Amcor Rigid Packaging.

"The No. 1 thing we as an industry got to figure out how to do is get our packages, whatever the substrate, in the bin," Eric Roegner, president of Amcor Rigid Packaging, said at the recent Packaging Conference in Austin.

PET, while it is the most recycled resin, still suffers from a recycling rate of less than 30 percent.

Roegner can think of no better way to help increase that number than to put messaging on both caps and containers urging consumers to recycle their empties.

"I personally believe that the more that we rub it in the consumer's face on the package, that will start to educate and change behavior," he said. "And by the way, the extra benefit is it makes the consumer feel better about the package. It's educating them and making them feel better."

Roegner made his comments while holding a Core-brand water bottle that tells consumers the container is made from recycled PET.

"It's not just running ads and sending flyers — doesn't work. I think when the package speaks to you, that works," he said. "What we can do is make sure this package — as well as the product, but really the package — drives the message and reinforces commitment, the whole value proposition around sustainability.

"The PET substrate, the PET package, is absolutely the best way to make a claim on sustainability," Roegner said.

He pointed to the lack of yield loss during recycling as well as lower greenhouse gas emissions during manufacturing for PET compared with containers made from other substrates. "When you compare like for like for like, there is no question that this package, PET, has a significantly lower greenhouse gas footprint," he said.

"There is a ton of misinformation, and I'd argue at times, disinformation. I might even go so far as to say fake news. But that's fairly political so I won't say it. I'll just stay with the disinformation that is out there. And the other thing we as an industry has to do is we have to do our job and really step up on improving that. Communication, get the truth out there and let the facts speak for themselves and let them be known," Roegner said.

PET packaging stumbles when compared with other materials when it comes to recycling rates after use.

Continually driving a recycling message is just one of three critical priorities for the PET industry, Roegner told the conference crowd. He said the industry also needs to promote good policy and speak with one voice — one passionate voice.

Roegner previously worked in the aluminum industry for 12 years, and he said he has seen what policy efforts can achieve. He now leads Amcor Rigid Packaging, which represents about a third of parent company's Amcor Ltd.'s total business. The other two-thirds involve flexible packaging. "I'll tell you what, the Aluminum Association knows how to work policy," he said.

"We as an industry, and particularly anybody in PET, need to up our game. And we can learn a lesson from them that you can get more active, that you can be specific about policy objectives," Roegner said. "There will be policy. We need to be at the table shaping it. … We have to be more vocal. We have to do that, because if not, it's going to be legislated away from us."

Roegner made it clear during his presentation that he is passionate about PET.

"We know and the data shows that this is the most sustainable package on earth," he claimed. "And more packaging, not less, more packaging should be in this substrate. And the more that we can have a unified message and a unified voice in going to promote that, the better off we as an industry, and honestly, the better off the world is going to be," he said.

"What do we need to do? If we know this package is the most sustainable package, we've got to collect it and we've got to recycle it," Roegner said.

"I don't think the answer is to get rid or even reduce plastic. I personally believe the answer is to get as much food and beverage and medical products into the PET substrate as humanly possible."