Plastics have largely replaced glass, aluminum and other packaging alternatives. That’s because lightweight plastics help make packaging more efficient, thereby conserving resources. It takes fewer trucks and less fuel to get products to market. Plastic is less costly to manufacture and also has recycling advantages.

A European study of packaging efficiency showed that if plastics did not exist, packaging waste would increase by almost 160 percent.

A few other examples of plastics packaging benefits:

• A study¹ found that the use of plastics in packaging (versus alternative materials) in Western Europe saves more than 580 million gigajoules of energy per year. That’s estimated to be the equivalent of more than 100 million barrels of oil.

• The same study also found that the use of plastic packaging in Western Europe reduces greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 43 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent per year. That’s like taking more than 12 million passenger cars off the road each year.

• Plastic jars can use up to approximately 90 percent less material by weight than their glass counterparts.

• Plastic containers can use about 38 percent less material than similar-sized steel cans.

• Packaging made from plastic or plastic-and-foil composites can use up to 80 percent less material than traditional bag-in-box packages.

• Compared with traditional fiberboard containers, plastic loop carriers can reduce by more than 1.8 ounces (51 grams) the weight per twelve-pack of beverage, or about 720 pounds (327 kilograms) per truckload.

¹Environment and Plastics Industry Council, 2004