A new study confirms that recycling plastics, specifically PET and HDPE, results in significant savings in energy and greenhouse gas emissions. The study used life cycle inventory (LCI) methodology to quantify the energy requirements, solid wastes, and atmospheric and waterborne emissions for the processes required to collect postconsumer PET and HDPE packaging, sort and separate the material, and reprocess it into clean recycled resin.

Using the LCI study results, together with U.S. EPA data on the tonnage of postconsumer PET and HDPE recovered in 2008, the energy required to collect, sort and domestically reprocess the tonnage of 2008 recovered plastic containers (including bottles) into cleaned recycled resin is 71 trillion Btu less than the amount of energy that would be required to produce the equivalent tonnage of virgin PET and HDPE resin.

The new study, "Final Report - Life Cycle Inventory of 100% Postconsumer HDPE and PET Recycled Resin from Postconsumer Containers and Packaging," conducted by Franklin Associates Ltd., was jointly sponsored by the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, the American Chemistry Council, the National Association of PET Container Resources and the PET Resin Association.

 Click here to download the report.