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DORDAN MANUFACTURING CO. INC. 2025 S. CASTLE RD. WOODSTOCK. IL. 60098 815.334.0087

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNICAL BREIF: PET/RPET VS. PS/HIPS

PREPARED BY CHANDLER SLAVIN SUSTAINABILITY COORDAINTOR, SPRING 2013 INTRODUCTION:

The purpose of this brief is to assist packaging designers and engineers in understanding the environmental impacts of the material used for packaging purpose, specifically PET/RPET and PS/HIPS. The information contained in this report is confined to the United States. The information presented is by necessity simplified and intended to provide general information. This brief utilizes life cycle inventory data derived from publically available sources and includes life cycle phases from raw material extraction to primary material and secondary (recycled) material manufacture.

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)

PET, SPI resin code #1, was originally produced for textiles until the mid 1960s when it was first used for packaging. Due to its clarity and strength, PET is now used to make containers for drinks, cleaning products, food, electronics and more.

Resource intensity of raw material production: The energy, , and waste information in this brief is limited to raw material extraction through pellet production.

Energy consumption: About 29.7 million Btus per 1,000 lbs of energy is needed to manufacture PET (Franklin 2007). The energy source for virgin PET production is primarily fossil fuel. While about 43% of energy is consumed in the production of PET, 18.6 billion Btus per ton of the energy is embedded and available for recovery (EPIC 2004 & Franklin 2007).

Recycled: About 11 million Btus are consumed per ton of recycled PET manufactured (Tellus 1992, Tellus 1994, Franklin 1992). Transportation fuels have the highest impact in RPET manufacture (NAPCOR 2006).

Emissions: About 2,538 lbs of c02 equivalents per 1,000 lbs of PET are generated during virgin PET production (Franklin 2007); approximately 0.2 tons of c02 equivelanets are generated for every ton of recycled PET produced (Brown 1993).

Air emissions, virgin: dioxide and combustion gases like sulfur oxides are the main air emissions from virgin PET production (APME 2005 & NAPCOR 2006); these are from fossil fuel production and use (APME 2005).

Recycled: Air emissions are from transportation (NAPCOR 2006).

Water discharges, virgin: Biological demand and chemical oxygen demand are the main water pollutants from virgin PET production (APME 2005 & Brown and Cole 1993). PET plants capture and treat all water before discharging (NAPCOR 2006).

Recycled: Recycled PET production uses less water than virgin and the main contaminants are BOD (APME 2005); water is treated before being discharged (NAPCOR 2006).

Solid waste, virgin: About 141 lbs of waste are generated for every 1,000 lbs of virgin PET produced (Franklin 2007).

Recycled: The dominant source of solid waste in recycled PET production is from paper labels (NAPCOR 2006).

End of life: In 2011, NAPCOR reports 5.478 billion lbs of PET packaging and containers generated, of which, a record-setting 29.3 was recycled (NAPCOR 2012).

Impact in end of life scenario: Used PET is a valuable material, highly recycled and suitable for a variety of high-value applications.

Sustainability potential: Recycling PET back into packaging or other high-value products is critical to the sustainability profile of PET packaging (NAPCOR 2006).

Innovations: New technologies are being commercialized to reduce the energy consumed associated with virgin PET production. These innnovations could have a positive impact on the environmental profile of PET, not only in reducing its energy requirements but also reducing the emsissions associated with energy use (NAPCOR 2006). In addition, the increasing demand for RPET from brand owners and retailers is a positive development that is likely to facilitate innovation in PET recycling.

Polystyrene (PS)

PS, resin code #6, is a used in the following major markets: packaging, consumer and institutional goods, building and , furniture, industrial and machinery, and transportation (U.S. E.P.A. 2008a). High impact (HIPS) is opaque due to the incorporation of rubber compound additive that helps reduce .

Energy consumption, virgin, HIPS: The average gross energy required to produce HIPS is 36.9 million Btus per 1,000 lbs of material (Franklin 2007).

Recycled: Currently no life cycle inventory data exists for recycled HIPS packaging.

Emissions, greenhouse gas, virgin: About 2,763 lbs of c02 equivalents are generated per 1,000 lbs of virgin HIPS produced (Franklin 2007). 82% of emissions are fuel related (APME 2006 & Franklin 2007)

Recycled: NA

Air emissions, virgin: About 2.41 tons of air emissions are generated for every ton of virgin HIPS produced (Franklin 2007).

Recycled: NA

Water discharges, virgin: About 0.84 tons of waterborne emissions are generated for every tone of virgin HIPS (Franklin 2007). The primary pollutants in wastewater from PS production include sulfate, COD, and chlorine; these are emitted from processing the PS and not treated prior to discharge (APME 2006).

Recycled: NA

Solid waste, virgin: About 113 lbs of solid waste are generated for every 1,000 of virgin HIPS produced (Franklin 2007).

Recycled: NA

End of life scenario: A small fraction of PS generated in the United States is recycled.

Canada: In 1989 the Canadian Polystyrene Recycling Association set up a pilot plant to demonstrate the feasibility of recycling post-consumer PS. CPRA now processes 20-25 tons of material per day and is the largest horticulture polystyrene recycling facility in North America (Roulston 2003).

Impact of end of life scenario: Rigid polystyrene is one of the least recovered resins.

Sustainability potential: As a material made from non-renewable fossil-fuel-based resources, recycling and reuse are key to the sustainable use of polystyrene in packaging.

Innovations: Commercial compaction technologies are being developed to reduce the bulk of EPS for efficient transport to processing facilities.

Figure 1: 2007 packaging disposal and recovery data (U.S. E.P.A. 2008).

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Generated in Production (Franklin 2007 & Vink et al 2007)

4,000

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000 produced

1,500

1,000

Lbs of C02 equivalents generated per 1,000 lbs of resin of lbs resin Lbs 1,000 ofequivalents per generated C02 500

0 PET HDPE PVC LDPE PP PS PLA Polymer Type

Energy Required for Production of Common Packaging (Franklin Associates, a Division of ERG, 2007)

16

14

12

10

8

6

4 Million Btu per 1,000 lbs of resin produced lbs of Million resin Btu1,000 per

2

0 HDPE LDPE LLDPE PP PET GPPS HIPS PVC ABS Polymer Type

Please note: Energy requirements with embedded energy removed

Works Cited

APME (The Association of Plastics Manufacturing in Europe), 2005, March. Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe. “Ecoprofiles of the European , Terephthalate (PET) (Bottle grade).” http://www.plasticseurope.org/content/default.asp?PageID=392.

APME (The Association of Plastics Manufacturing in Europe), 2006. “Eco-profiles of the European plastics industry, Polystyrene (General Purpose) resin.” Available from: http://www.plasticseurope.org/content/default.asp?PageID=392.

Brown, K and Cole, H. 1993. Advantage Glass! A technical study documenting the environmental advantages of glass over plastic containers.

EPIC (Environment and Plastics Industry Council), 2004. “A Review of the Options for the Thermal Treatment of Plastics.” December 2004. Available at: www.plastics.ca/epic

Franklin Associates, 1992. “An Energy Study of Plastics and their Alternatives in Packaging and Disposable Consumer Goods.” Prepared for the Society of the Plastics Industry.

Franklin 2007. “Cradle-to-gate life cycle inventory of nine plastic resins And two precursors.” Prepared for the plastics division of the American Council. December 2007.

NAPCOR (National Association for PET Container Resources), 2004. “2004 Report on Post Consumer PET Container Recycling Activity.” http://www.napcor.com/pdf/2004_Report.pdf

NAPCOR (National Association for PET Container Resources), 2006, Aug. 22. National Association for PET Container Resources. www.napcor.com. Personal interview with David Cornell, Dennis Sabourin, Mike Schedler, Greg Schmidt.

NAPCOR (National Association for PET Container Resources), 2006a. “2006 Report on Post Consumer PET Container Recycling Activity.” http://www.napcor.com/pdf/2006_Report.pdf (accessed 1 December 2008).

Roulston, J. 2003. CPRA representative. Personal communication. February 18, 2003. Cited in: Levitan, L., Barros, A. 2003. Recycling agricultural plastics in New York State. Environmental Risk Analysis Program. Cornell University. Online report available from: http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/WastRed/RecyclingAg- Plastics.pdf

U.S. EPA, 2008a. AP 42, “Fifth Edition Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors, Volume 1: Stationary Point and Area Sources.” http://www.epa.gov/ttn/hief/ap42/ (accessed 29 May 2008).

U.S. EPA. 2008. “Municipal solid waste in the United States, 2007 facts and figures.” Franklin report. Available from: www.epa.gov/msw/msw99.htm