Closing the Loop

The transition from virgin, single-use plastics to recycled and reusable alternatives is a measurable necessity for reducing industrial waste. Manufacturing virgin plastic requires significant extraction and refining of fossil fuels, which drives up global greenhouse gas emissions. However, processing used plastic packaging into recyclate severely cuts down on these emissions by keeping materials in a closed loop.

Recent analyses of plastic recycling facilities demonstrate the sheer scale of energy savings. For instance, producing recycled PET (rPET) can result in 79% to 87% fewer carbon emissions compared to manufacturing virgin PET. While virgin PET produces around 2.15 kg to 2.90 kg of CO2 equivalent per kilogram, rPET's carbon footprint can drop as low as 0.38 kg to 0.45 kg per kilogram. By designing durable, reusable plastic goods from these recycled materials, we can drastically reduce the volume of waste entering landfills and cut down on the fossil fuels burned to produce everyday items.