Many water bottlers are using much lighter-weight PET containers to meet sustainability initiatives. However, research conducted by Plastic Technologies, Inc. found that ultra-lightweight bottles can negatively impact the effectiveness of post-consumer package waste sorting and recycling systems.
There has been a growth in popularity of single-serve water bottles: consumers like them for their convenience and price, while PET resin suppliers have benefited from this surge. But not a lot of research has focused on the performance impact and the validation of sustainability assumptions. PTI, a provider of plastic packaging, wanted to provide brand owners with additional information to facilitate the decision making process.