Industry Leaders Partner for National Program Showcasing Environmental Benefits of Plastic Packaging

Enabling American consumers to make educated purchasing decisions and encouraging recycling habits is focus of new campaign

Leaders across the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) value chain have partnered for a national campaign to highlight the significant sustainability advantages of the packaging material while also raising awareness of the importance of recycling. They have teamed up for an episode of Public Television’s Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid and a series of national commercials that will air on cable television.

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PET plastic can be recycled again and again and the disposal and reintroduction of a PET bottle back into the recycling stream is critical. It continues the circular economy, allowing for a bottle that is made from 100-percent recycled PET to be back into a consumer’s hand in as little as six weeks. (Photo: Business Wire)

“The importance of debunking misconceptions of PET packaging and addressing the environmental advantages of PET containers is more important than ever,” said Laura Stewart, Executive Director, National Association for PET Container Resources. “This program offered us an excellent opportunity to reach a broad audience with a critical message – based in facts -- that has been getting lost amid misinformation. The truth, as verified by two recent lifecycle assessments including one by McKinsey & Company, show the true impact of PET as the environmentally responsible packaging solution that can significantly contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, smog and acid rain compared to other primary beverage packaging materials.”

Participants featured in the program include Eric Roegner, President, Amcor Rigid Packaging, Charlotte Dreizen, Director, Sustainability and Environment, PLASTICS, Matt Daum, Ph.D., Director, Michigan State University School of Packaging and Assistant Dean of Corporate Relations and Strategy for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), Laura Stewart, Executive Director, National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), Sally Houghton, Executive Director, Plastic Recycling Corporation of California (PRCC), and Kristin Kelley, Vice President, Corporate Communications and External Affairs, Amcor Rigid Packaging.

The five-minute video presentation, showcasing the facts about PET containers and the importance of recycling, will be available through more than 175 public television stations nationwide, beginning on August 14. The segment will be in rotation for the next year, ensuring widespread awareness about the advantages of PET and the importance of proper recycling practices.

Additionally, a sixty-second commercial will run nationally on FOX Business on August 24^th and 27^th during prime time. The same spot will be broadcast 400 times across the top 100 United States media markets through the end of August.

The full video is available to view here.

“We’re thrilled to tell this story through Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid and empower American for consumers to make educated, informed decisions,” notes Eric Roegner, President, Amcor Rigid Packaging. “The opportunity to tell the circularity story of the PET bottle – from design to manufacturing, into the hands of the consumer and then recycling it again and again and again – is something we believe is critical for our industry and critical for the health of our planet. PET packaging plays a pivotal role in our daily lives by preserving and protecting our food, packaging, and transporting goods, and ensuring the secure and effective delivery of medicine. Additionally, PET is 100 recyclable and can be made from 100 percent recycled material.”

“The facts speak for themselves, and they speak quite loudly,” adds Sally Houghton, Executive Director, Plastic Recycling Corporation of California. “Recycling is an essential part of building a more sustainable world. And when we recycle as a society, then we all win.”

About Amcor:

Amcor is a global leader in the development and production of responsible packaging solutions for various industries, including food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal-care, and more. Collaborating with leading companies worldwide, Amcor protects products and consumers while differentiating brands and enhancing supply chains through a range of flexible and rigid packaging, specialty cartons, closures, and services. The company remains committed to creating increasingly lighter weight, recyclable, and reusable packaging with a growing percentage of recycled content. With a global workforce of 44,000 employees, Amcor generated $15 billion in annual sales in fiscal year 2022, operating across 220 locations in 43 countries, listed on NYSE: AMCR and ASX: AMC.

About the Michigan State University School of Packaging:

Housed within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the top-ranked MSU School of Packaging is the first school of packaging in the United States and the largest packaging program in the country, with over 600 undergraduate and graduate students. It is the only school that offers a Ph.D. program in packaging and boasts 10,000 alumni worldwide.

About the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR):

Founded in 1987, the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) is the industry association for the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic packaging industry in the United States, Canada and Mexico. NAPCOR is dedicated to promoting the PET package; to overcoming hurdles to the successful recycling of PET; and to communicating the attributes of the PET container as a sustainable package. Learn more at https://napcor.com/.

About PLASTICS

The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) is the only organization that supports the entire plastics supply chain, including Equipment Suppliers, Material Suppliers, Processors and Recyclers, representing over one million workers in our $468 billion U.S. industry. PLASTICS advances the priorities of our members who are dedicated to investing in technologies that improve capabilities and advances in recycling and sustainability and providing essential products that allow for the protection and safety of our lives. Since 1937, PLASTICS has been working to make its members, and the sixth largest U.S. manufacturing industry, more globally competitive while supporting circularity through educational initiatives, industry-leading insights and events, convening opportunities and policy advocacy, including the largest plastics trade show in the Americas, NPE2024: The Plastics Show

About the Plastic Recycling Corporation of California (PRCC):

The Plastic Recycling Corporation of California (PRCC) was created in 1987 as a non-profit, voluntary producer responsibility organization in response to the then new California beverage container recycling program. Since then, the mission of the PRCC has been to ensure that every PET beverage bottle collected in California gets recycled and reused to make a new bottle or other product.

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