NAPCOR: New life cycle assessment shows improved PET numbers

Austin, Texas — With plastics continuing to come under attack, the PET industry needs to do a better job at highlighting the advantages of using the material, according to one longtime packaging maker and recycler.

That's why the National Association for PET Container Resources is putting the finishing touches on a new life cycle analysis that does just that, NAPCOR Chairman Tom Busard said at the recent Packaging Conference in Austin.

New, but still preliminary, data shows that PET has made improvements in some key environmental metrics since the last LCA was undertaken by the trade group 13 years ago.

Much has changed since 2009, when the last NAPCOR LCA was performed, Busard told the conference crowd.

NAPCOR has been working on an update for two years with the help of consulting firm Franklin Associates.

"The peer review is not done yet. These are all preliminary results. But we don't expect them to change much," Busard said.

Updated LCA numbers show a 20-ounce PET bottle, selected because of its popularity, accounts for 18 percent less greenhouse gas, 24 percent less energy and 31 percent less solid waste than the numbers in the 2009 LCA, he said.

LCA data is in high demand from companies using PET bottles for their products as other substrates such as metal and paper increasingly look to take market share from PET.

"We have no time to waste on these things. We need to get the data out quickly," Busard said. "The point is everybody is struggling on how to have a better story."

Busard's day job is vice president of global procurement for Plastipak Packaging Inc. of Plymouth, Mich., and president of the company's Clean Tech Inc. recycling division.

Numbers from the LCA will allow PET packaging companies and brand owners to do just that. "The information is in high demand because, again, every customer wants to know: 'Help me fight back on this stuff and feel good about making a decision on PET,'" he said.

The preliminary LCA numbers tell what Busard said is a "fantastic story."

"All the reclaimers, including ourselves, are running more efficiently, less energy, bigger systems. You still use water, you still use chemicals, but, boy, the scale-up really makes a difference," he said.

While it's been 13 years since the last LCA, NAPCOR expects updates to happen more frequently in the future. NAPCOR expects to release a final version of the latest LCA by May 1.

Laura Stewart is operations director at NAPCOR, having recently been promoted from communications director at the trade group.

She said the new information will cut through the clutter. "It's complex and there's a lot of noise out there. Having that comparable data updated is huge."

NAPCOR said the need to provide updated LCA information is important to help get the industry's message out to a broader audience, not just industry players.

"I think what it comes down to is it's very easy to get into that echo chamber," Stewart said.

But with virtue signaling complicating packaging choices, legislative activity and the potential for bans all in play, Stewart said providing up-to-date environmental data is key.

Updating LCA information is part of a broader push by NAPCOR to be a more outwardly facing organization, she said.

That includes NAPCOR's Positively PET campaign that seeks to promote the benefits of the PET containers. Positively PET's efforts to engage consumers face to face have been impacted by COVID-19, but the campaign continues to spread messaging through social media to specific geographic markets on a rotating basis.

This includes efforts on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn as well as engaging with traditional media.