Energy and materials use in the production and recycling of consumer-goods packaging

Abstract

A comparison is made of the energy consumed annually in the United States to produce paper, glass, steel, aluminum, and plastic for consumer-goods packaging and types of energy used for production are examined. Energy saved through recycling and combustion for energy recovery also is considered. A maximum of 1.5 quad could be saved if this packaging material were recycled, and about 0.6 quad could be recovered if it were burned as part of municipal solid waste. Paper and plastic compete in several markets, including bags and milk containers: in almost all cases, the plastic container requires less energy to produce and recycle. However, the major energy input to paper manufacture is wood, rather than oil and natural gas. Glass bottles require less energy to produce than aluminum or steel cans. On the other hand, aluminum cans take less energy to recycle than bottles, and recycled aluminum cans are the least energy intensive of the single-serving beverage containers, except for refillable glass bottles that are reused several times. For family-sized beverage bottles, a plastic bottle uses less energy to make and to recycle than a glass bottle. In addition, plastic bottles are combustible. However, glass bottles could be made with no oil or natural gas input, and they can be reused.