PETrecycling CZ is non-commercial, independent, free & un-sponsored Czech web portal for funs, communities, administrative, law-makers, politicians, PET plastic industry etc. in the Czech Republic.

My closing statement read: "There is only one real effective and incentive method to encourage environmentally sound collecting of beverage one-way containers and it is deposit in combination with High-Tech R&D resulted Reverse Vending Machines!"

PET FIGHTS BACK

Most readers of PET Planet have a connection with the PET value chain and rely on some aspect of PET for their livelihood.

• PET is clean and lightweight. One litre (one kilogram) of water can be protected from contamination and spoiling by 25 grams of PET.

• Empty PET bottles can be recycled and are collected for recycle from households and drop off points in every EU country. In 2007 1.13m tonnes were collected for recycle, 20% more than in 2006. They end up in a variety of applications – new bottles, thermoforming sheet, strapping tape, fibres, non wovens and others such as engineering plastics.

• A PET bottle doesn’t break or shatter. It is the safest material for all beverages in the home, at sports venues and outdoor concerts, and on the beach …… but as with all packaging we must dispose of our bottles safely in a recycle or litter bin!

• When disasters strike PET really comes into its own. Pictures of natural, and not so natural disasters show aid and rescue workers handing out essential water in PET bottles. They are light, compact, resealable, easily transported to remote areas and are immediately available in large quantities with filling lines able to work round the clock to support emergency services.

• There are also many occasions when tap water becomes polluted or is not available and water companies have emergency bottled water stocks to take account of this.

• It isn’t a sin to take a bottle of water with you when you’re travelling, in fact it is a sensible practice. By all means reuse your PET bottle and refill it from a tap, but please treat it as you would a glass or a ceramic cup and wash the bottle well between uses.

• There are many myths about PET and its contents. The most recent one associated PET with environmental oestrogens. Considerable research has been conducted with no evidence of danger to reproduction or reproductive development from PET or any of its raw materials. PET and its raw materials are not made from phthalates. There may be some confusion because the name sounds similar to the very safe terephthalates and isophthalates, but these are very different substances.

• It is the fashion to talk about “carbon footprints”. This doesn’t consider the effect a product can have throughout its lifecycle on air and ground water quality, soil contamination and depletion of natural resources. PET has freely available, peer reviewed Life Cycle Analyses (LCAs) available for PET resin production and its conversion into containers or sheet (www.plasticseurope.org). These are regularly reviewed. Petcore is planning, with EuPR and EPRO, to produce a companion LCA for the collection and recycle of PET bottles in Europe. Its availability will provide an independent challenge when comparative LCAs are published that conveniently leave the benefits of recycling PET out of their calculations.