Benyathiar Patnarin, Kumar Pankaj, Carpenter Gregory, Brace John, Mishra Dharmendra K
Department of Food Technology, Mahidol University, Kanchanaburi Campus, Kanchanaburi 71150, Thailand.
Research & Development, Amcor Rigid Packaging, Manchester, MI 48158, USA.
Polymers (Basel). 2022 Jun 11;14(12):2366. doi: 10.3390/polym14122366.
Disposal of plastic waste has become a widely discussed issue, due to the potential environmental impact of improper waste disposal. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging accounted for 44.7% of single-serve beverage packaging in the US in 2021, and 12% of global solid waste. A strategic solution is needed to manage plastic packaging solid waste. Major beverage manufacturers have pledged to reduce their environmental footprint by taking steps towards a sustainable future. The PET bottle has several properties that make it an environmentally friendly choice. The PET bottle has good barrier properties as its single-layer, mono-material composition allows it to be more easily recycled. Compared to glass, the PET bottle is lightweight and has a lower carbon footprint in production and transportation. With modern advancements to decontamination processes in the recycling of post-consumer recycled PET (rPET or PCR), it has become a safe material for reuse as beverage packaging. It has been 30 years since the FDA first began certifying PCR PET production processes as compliant for production of food contact PCR PET, for application within the United States. This article provides an overview of PET bottle-to-bottle recycling and guidance for beverage manufacturers looking to advance goals for sustainability.
由于不当的废物处理可能对环境造成影响，塑料废物的处理已成为一个广泛讨论的问题。2021年，聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET）包装占美国单份饮料包装的44.7%，占全球固体废物的12%。需要一种战略解决方案来管理塑料包装固体废物。主要饮料制造商已承诺采取措施迈向可持续未来，以减少其对环境的影响。PET瓶具有多种特性，使其成为环保选择。PET瓶具有良好的阻隔性能，因为其单层、单一材料的组成使其更易于回收利用。与玻璃相比，PET瓶重量轻，在生产和运输过程中的碳足迹更低。随着现代技术对消费后回收PET（rPET或PCR）回收过程中去污工艺的改进，它已成为一种可安全再用作饮料包装的材料。自美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）首次开始认证PCR PET生产工艺符合在美国境内生产食品接触用PCR PET的要求以来，已经过去了30年。本文概述了PET瓶到瓶的回收利用，并为希望推进可持续发展目标的饮料制造商提供指导。
