According to the research, the PET water bottle was identified as “the least environmentally impactful option”, and “therefore the preferred container for packaged water”, while the beverage carton was the second least impactful package across many of the seven indicators and the glass bottle was the most environmentally friendly container., Charlotte Metcalf, said while the study hasn’t been replicated in South Africa, “we have no reason to believe the outcome would be any different”.
“They are not single-use products. Importantly, by recycling them after reusing them, you reduce their environmental footprint by 25%,” Metcalf added., the project manager of the circular plastics economy at conservation group WWF-SA, said it is clear that the life-cycle analysis conducted did not consider the effect of this packaging once it leaks into the environment.
“It is also key to ensure that regional data is used for these life-cycle analyses as the results from a life-cycle analysis conducted in the US is not representative of the South African context and the results could be very different.” “As a developing country, PET collection and recycling rates in South Africa are on par with many developed countries,” she said, adding: “It has become trendy to suggest and use alternatives to PET when it comes to beverage and food packaging in a knee-jerk reaction to plastic bias.”
Bottled water companies sell plastic bottles and brands. stopplasticpollution SA's tap water is still safe.
Come test our tap-water. Coz it ain't drinkable
No running water to all our citizens