Environment

Plastics have an excellent environmental track record.

Plastics provide unparalleled benefits as a packaging material. This is because plastics are lightweight, resource efficient and offer excellent barrier properties. Due to these properties packaging items in plastics significantly reduce waste and saves energy.

Plastics packaging reduces waste

On average, ten times more energy goes into the production of the food or goods packaging contains than the packaging itself. *Food waste in UK is 2% compared to between 40 and 50% in developing world. This is due, in no small part, to plastics packaging systems. A cucumber loses moisture quickly and would be unsalable within 3 days were it not protected by 1.5 grams of plastic.

Plastics packaging is lightweight and resource efficient
  • If plastics were not used in packaging and other materials were used instead, then waste and energy consumption would double, and weight and costs would quadruple.
  • Plastics packaging has an excellent record of innovation and light weighting. Between 1991 and 2000 the average weight of plastics film (g/m2) decreased by 36% whilst the average weight or bottles and containers decreased by 21%.
Plastics packaging is lightweight and resource efficient

24% of plastics packaging placed on the market in 2007 were recycled. *In 2006, 6499 tonnes of EPS packaging was recycled in the UK. This represents 42% of EPS packaging manufactured in the UK.