A Few Fast Facts on...Plastics and Energy
- Plastics help conserve resources. Using lightweight, durable, formable plastics, manufacturers can minimize raw materials used, energy consumed and waste generated.
- Plastics save energy. Only about 4 percent of U.S. total energy consumption goes into the creation of plastic products, and it often takes less energy to convert plastics from a raw material into a finished product than comparable products made of other materials.
- During their life cycle, plastic bags require about one-third less energy to make than paper bags.
- Foam polystyrene containers take 30 percent less total energy to make than paperboard containers.
- 53 billion kilowatt hours of electricity are saved annually by improvements in major appliance energy made possible by plastic applications. Without the benefits provided by plastics insulation, these appliances would use up to 30 percent more energy.
- Without plastics, the energy used to produce packaging would double. By using plastics rather than its alternatives, American manufacturers save more than 330 Btu. This is a difference equivalent to 58 million barrels of oil, 325 billion cubic feet of natural gas or 32 billion pounds of coal.
- Plastics are lighter than many alternative materials. They have consistently reduced the weight of truck payloads and allowed companies to ship more product in fewer trucks - saving energy. For instance, 2.8 million plastic grocery bags can be delivered in one truck; the same truck can hold only 500,000 paper grocery bags.
- Over the lifetime of the average car, plastic parts save 650 gallons of gas as a result of their lighter weight.
- The energy saved by recycling a one-gallon plastic milk jug will keep a 100-watt bulb burning for 11 hours.
- By using plastics in their packaging, product manufacturers save enough energy every year to power a city of 1 million homes for 3-1/2 years.
