The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) is urging manufacturers of PET resin and products to avoid using additives that make plastic degradable.

PET is widely used in making plastic bottles, containers and other packaging. It is also widely recycled, identifiable by the resin code 1.

As companies investigate more sustainable packaging, some have started using plant-based plastics in place of PET or started using additives that make the PET degradable based on certain conditions.

NAPCOR, the trade organization for the PET packaging industry, is asking companies to stop using additives until more information is gathered on what effect additive-laden plastic could have on recycling streams if that plastic ends up being put in recycling systems instead of being left to degrade.

NAPCOR also wants to see documentation related to degradability claims, more information on what effect degradable additives could have on products made out of recycled PET, and information on what impact the additives have on product lifespan.

“Without the testing and data necessary to understand the potential impacts of degradable additives in PET, it's not an overstatement to say that they could potentially put the whole PET recycling system at risk,” said NAPCOR Executive Director Dennis Sabourin. “We don't yet understand the impacts that these additives could have on the quality of the PET recycling stream, let alone the impacts on the safety and functionality over time of next-use PET products like recycled-content PET packaging, carpeting, or strapping.”

NAPCOR is also questioning the use of degradable plastics because when plastic is left to degrade instead of being recycled or remanufactured, the inherent energy in the packaging is lost, and the plastic industry also loses material that could have recycled into new packaging.

In 2007, the U.S. recycled 1.4 billion pounds of postconsumer PET packaging, and some companies have started using bottles and packaging made entirely out of recycled plastic.

^{Plastic bottles - CC license by Shazari}