[greenyes] A minor note

["Jerry Powell" <jpowell@no.address>]

I appreciated the dialogue between Pat Franklin and David Biddle.  However, I want to offer a minor comment on one of David's assertions.  He says that more and more producers are switching to plastic from glass.  This is not really the case.  

In 2004, aluminum can usage in the U.S. stayed flat (once again) at about 100 billion cans.  Because of the growth in population and in liquids consumption, this means cans are losing marketshare.  At the same time, glass container shipments were up 2.0 percent.  About 55 percent of glass use in the U.S. is for packaging beer, and because beer sales were flat, this means that glass' marketshare growth was greater than two percent.

PET bottle use in the U.S. rose about eight percent, say several market players.  This is because PET is the preferred package for the fastest growing segments of the beverage industry.  For example, bottle water sales grew more than 10 percent and PET is the preferred package for water.  So the proliferation of plastic containers in 2004 is more explained by growth in its market uses than in packagers switching to plastic from glass.

I've been in the business for more than 30 years.  During this time, I've always heard that the glass industry is a dinosaur and will soon become extinct.  I am still waiting for this to occur.  The U.S. glass industry is lean and efficient.  In fact, Wall Street analysts will tell you that glass producers have the best return on investment of all packaging producers.  
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Jerry Powell, Editor and Publisher
Resource Recycling Magazine
E-Scrap News
Plastics Recycling Update

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