PET Plastic Bottle (500 ml)

Product Profile

The 500 ml PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle is the dominant single-serve beverage container globally. A standard bottle weighs approximately 30 g (including cap and label). Global production exceeds 500 billion PET bottles annually.

At 0.18 kgCO2e per bottle (assuming 100% virgin PET), this is the lowest per-unit embodied carbon of the common beverage containers. PET’s low weight per volume is the primary reason for its carbon efficiency.

Why PET Has Low Per-Unit Emissions

PET bottles benefit from three structural advantages:

• Low material weight: At 30 g per bottle, a PET bottle uses a fraction of the material of a glass bottle (200-300 g) or aluminum can (15 g for a smaller 355 ml serving).
• Efficient forming process: Stretch blow molding from preforms is a relatively low-energy process compared to glass melting or aluminum smelting.
• Mature supply chain: PET resin production is a well-optimized petrochemical process with decades of efficiency improvements.

However, per-kilogram emissions (~6 kgCO2e/kg) are moderate — the low per-unit score is primarily a function of weight, not material efficiency.

The Petrochemical Feedstock Question

PET is derived from petroleum via purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and monoethylene glycol (MEG). The petrochemical processing chain accounts for ~55% of total emissions. Unlike aluminum smelting, where the process chemistry generates direct CO2, PET’s emissions are primarily energy-related — the cracking, distillation, and polymerization steps consume significant thermal energy.

This means that bio-based PET (from plant-derived MEG or PTA) can potentially reduce feedstock emissions by 20-40%. However, bio-PET remains a small fraction of total production and is not reflected in the default score.

Recycled PET (rPET)

Recycled PET reduces emissions by approximately 30-50% compared to virgin:

Recycled Content	Estimated Score per Bottle
0% (virgin only)	0.18 kgCO2e
25% rPET	0.15 kgCO2e
50% rPET	0.12 kgCO2e
100% rPET	0.09 kgCO2e

Several major brands (Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Danone) have committed to 50%+ rPET content by 2030. Actual global average recycled content is estimated at 10-15%.

End-of-Life Note

The CCI does not include end-of-life emissions in the default score. For PET, end-of-life is particularly complex: bottles that are recycled avoid virgin production (a credit), while those landfilled or incinerated generate additional emissions. The global PET bottle collection rate is approximately 50%, with significant regional variation (>90% in Germany/Norway, <30% in many developing countries).

Provenance Override

Bottle manufacturers and beverage brands may override the default score by:

• Verified rPET content percentage
• Bio-PET content certification
• Factory energy data with renewable energy certificates
• ISO 14067-compliant full bottle PCF
• EPDs registered with recognized programs