The future of polyethylene terephthalate bottles: Challenges and sustainability

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most widely used polymer for manufacturing plastic bottles appropriate for water and soft beverages usage. The advantages of PET, regarding its mechanical and barrier and permeation properties, convenience, safety as food contact material, and recyclability, are well documented during the past decades. However, the recent trends towards the adoption of circular economy and the EU Directives regarding the reduction of the impact of plastic products on the environment has raised significant concerns about the sustainability and future of PET plastics. The objective of the article is to demonstrate the advantages and drawbacks of PET for applications in the bottled water and soft beverages sectors and discuss the future of PET bottles, considering the current trends and sustainability issues. The advantages of PET are well documented, in terms of its mechanical properties, barriers, convenience of use and safety as a food contact material. The limitations and drawbacks of its increasing application have been introduced and refer mainly to the environmental impact of the single‐use plastics. Recent research and advances have been reported, making PET currently more sustainable than in the past.