The British Plastics Federation is seeking a meeting with the authors of Wrap's report on the carbon impact of bulk imports of wine packaged in glass and PET bottles because it finds some of the conclusions "difficult to believe".
Chief executive Peter Davis said the main issue was not with bulk imports, but the fact that the vast majority of imported wine – more than one million tones – was in green 75cl bottles from Europe.
The majority of glass wine bottles weighed 496g, compared with 54g for PET, he added.
"For a filled truckload of bottles, PET would give a saving of 28% in weight over glass, which is why I find Wrap's calculations difficult to accept," he said.
The study, carried out by sustainability consultancy Best Foot Forward for Wrap, concluded that lightweighting of bottles, irrespective of whether they were glass or PET, led to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
In addition, the more recycled content used in the bottle, the greater the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, and therefore the greater benefit to the environment.
British Glass was "very encouraged" by the report findings and recycling manager Rebecca Cocking said they "may help dispel" some of the "unfavourable criticism" that glass packaging has received over its weight.
"All glass bottles have a significant amount of recycled content, on average over 60% in glass packaging sold in the UK, and therefore could easily meet the levels of recycling suggested in the study, so long as good quality cullet is obtained from the consumer waste stream," she said.
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WRAP FINDINGS
The study looked at the carbon impact of 75cl glass and PET wine bottles in wine bulk imported from Australia.
It compared a 54g PET bottle with no recycled content with a 496g glass bottle with 81% recycled content and a lightweight 365g glass bottle with 81% recycled content.
The 496g glass bottle had the highest carbon dioxide emissions (523g), followed by the 365g glass bottle (453g).
The PET bottle came out marginally lower than the 365g glass bottle (446g), although the report found that the higher carbon dioxide emissions arising for PET from manufacture offset much of the savings obtained from its low weight.
The report also compared a 365g glass bottle with 92% recycled content and PET bottles with 50% and 100% recycled content and found that emissions reduced as the amount of recycled content increased.
Source: packagingnews
Chief executive Peter Davis said the main issue was not with bulk imports, but the fact that the vast majority of imported wine – more than one million tones – was in green 75cl bottles from Europe.
The majority of glass wine bottles weighed 496g, compared with 54g for PET, he added.
"For a filled truckload of bottles, PET would give a saving of 28% in weight over glass, which is why I find Wrap's calculations difficult to accept," he said.
The study, carried out by sustainability consultancy Best Foot Forward for Wrap, concluded that lightweighting of bottles, irrespective of whether they were glass or PET, led to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
In addition, the more recycled content used in the bottle, the greater the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, and therefore the greater benefit to the environment.
British Glass was "very encouraged" by the report findings and recycling manager Rebecca Cocking said they "may help dispel" some of the "unfavourable criticism" that glass packaging has received over its weight.
"All glass bottles have a significant amount of recycled content, on average over 60% in glass packaging sold in the UK, and therefore could easily meet the levels of recycling suggested in the study, so long as good quality cullet is obtained from the consumer waste stream," she said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WRAP FINDINGS
The study looked at the carbon impact of 75cl glass and PET wine bottles in wine bulk imported from Australia.
It compared a 54g PET bottle with no recycled content with a 496g glass bottle with 81% recycled content and a lightweight 365g glass bottle with 81% recycled content.
The 496g glass bottle had the highest carbon dioxide emissions (523g), followed by the 365g glass bottle (453g).
The PET bottle came out marginally lower than the 365g glass bottle (446g), although the report found that the higher carbon dioxide emissions arising for PET from manufacture offset much of the savings obtained from its low weight.
The report also compared a 365g glass bottle with 92% recycled content and PET bottles with 50% and 100% recycled content and found that emissions reduced as the amount of recycled content increased.
Source: packagingnews
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