Consumers in the United States discard over 100 billion PET bottles and over 10 billion polyester garments each year. Found in products ranging from food trays and active wear to carpets, PET and polyester account for 30% of the country’s plastic packaging and textiles use, contributing significantly to plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Yet they also have high potential for circular economy approaches that reduce waste and emissions and create economic opportunities.
A new study published by Systemiq, with support from Closed Loop Partners, Eunomia and The Recycling Partnership, outlines an ambitious roadmap to transition the US PET packaging and polyester textile industries from today’s linear, single-use model towards circular, low-waste and low-emission systems by 2040.
If current trends continue, PET/polyester consumption could grow by 1.5 times by 2040, resulting in 13 million metric tons of non-recycled waste – equivalent to 750,000 garbage trucks annually. But this study offers a different vision. Scaling proven, complementary circular solutions like reducing avoidable material use, scaling packaging reuse and textiles resale, as well as expanding mechanical and depolymerization recycling, could result in significant environmental and economic benefits.
By 2040, these efforts could reduce virgin PET/polyester consumption and waste sent to landfill and incineration by half and cut projected GHG emissions from packaging by ~60%. This transformation could also create 46,000 new US jobs and add $4.9 billion annually in additional revenue for domestic recycling and reuse industries.
The report, Transforming PET Packaging and Textiles in the United States, calls on policymakers and industry leaders to take swift and bold action. Key recommendations include enacting well-designed Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, scaling up recycling technologies and expanding reuse, collection and recycling initiatives.
Read the full report and the executive summary at https://systemiq.earth/pet-polyester-us
