Supply chain best practices to improve bottle-to-bottle circularity of PET: Case evidence from the beverage industry

Article ID: 1988

Abstract

Bottle-to-bottle circularity of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) has gained significant attention in the beverage industry globally as a prospective response to unsustainable manufacturing and consumption. PET has been the polymer of choice for packaging of beverages for many decades owing to its functionality, resistance, safety, and lightweight properties. However, it has also created an environmental challenge as it has found its way to the landfill due to a lack of consumer awareness, robust collect-back mechanisms, and recycling options. Following the call of environmentalists, government legislations, and vigilante consumers, there is a conscious effort by the beverage manufacturers to move away from the traditional concept of “source-make-use-dispose” to design PET bottles with fewer resources, collect and recycle PET waste to avoid landfills. Bottle-to-bottle circularity of PET has two important processes: 1) design creation with minimal resource utilization in the forward logistics and 2) the 3Rs: recycle, reuse and recover in the reverse logistics. The academic literature on bottle-to-bottle circularity is nascent and focuses largely on the individual processes of the closed loop rather than considering them in conjunction or viewing them through the lens of supply chain management. This study adopts a supply chain management theoretical approach to understand the critical processes in the PET bottle-to-bottle circularity chain. A case study methodology has been adopted to analyze best practices adopted by three FMCG giants in recent years to improve their PET bottle design (without compromising on the material composition and quality), sorting and recycling mechanisms post-consumption, and finally incorporating the recycled PET in the new bottle design to close the loop. This study makes an important practical contribution, as the best practices highlighted in the paper can be adopted by other beverage manufacturers in the developing countries where sorting mechanisms and recycling options and technology are not well developed. It also fulfills the underlying principles of SDG (The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), introduced by the United Nations in 2015, provide a comprehensive framework to balance economic growth, social inclusivity, and environmental preservation—fundamental principles of sustainability.) 9 and 12 that emphasize innovation and infrastructure development in industry to promote sustainable production and consumption.