Market trends
Study: Plastics reduce environmental impact
Russell said the study was admittedly “risky,” but it provides a new lens into the industry’s ongoing sustainability discussion.
“Even though the plastics industry is probably a little bit uncomfortable with a dollar value being assigned to the environmental consequences of production, the more we can make better decisions to improve our business, the better,” he said. “As more and more companies … start looking at the consequences of their decisions, they need good information on which to base those decisions.”
In addition, the report recommends steps to help further reduce plastics' overall environmental costs by as much as $41 billion industry-wide, including suggestions such as:
• A potential $7.6 billion in overall cost savings from increasing the use of wind, solar and hydro-electric power sources in plastics production.
• A possible $7.3 billion in environmental costs savings from a 30 percent reduction in materials used in the food, soft drink and ice packaging sectors alone.
• A potential $10.6 billion savings if the industry committed to a 20 percent improvement in fuel efficiency for the fleets of vehicles used to transport plastic and plastic products.
While consumers are accustomed to only looking at their piece of the puzzle — the end of a piece of plastic’s life, usually as they hold it in their hand — manufacturers and policy makers must see things more broadly, and the study puts more data into perspective for them than ever before, say Trucost and ACC.
“Plastics makers are used to hearing about the downsides of our products. And this study is disruptive of conventional wisdom that says plastics are bad for the environment or that we should use other materials,” Russell said. “But all of the pieces weighed together need to be considered if we want to make the best decision for the planet and the environment. That’s why this study is important…. Not just the end-of-life piece, the full lifecycle.”
By Gayle S. Putrich
