Future-Proofing Your Packaging: PET as the Strategic Response to Aluminum Tariffs
The announcement of 25% aluminum tariffs has sent ripples through the packaging industry, exposing vulnerabilities in supply chains and putting immediate cost pressures on brands and producers. As an example, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey recently announced that if aluminum cans become more expensive, the company would put more emphasis on PET plastic bottles.
When crunching the numbers, assuming that you’re a producer using a ratio of 70% recycled domestic aluminum and 30% imported aluminum, a 25% tariff would roughly translate to an estimated raw material cost increase of approximately 10% per can – a potential added cost that could significantly affect your bottom line.
The beverage industry is particularly exposed, with sodas, carbonated flavored waters, beers, and alcoholic cooler beverages packed in both short and tall cans directly affected. Many leading producers are already making a strategic pivot to Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) packaging, seeing it as not just a way to avoid tariffs, but as an investment in sustainability, cost efficiency, and design flexibility.
In this article, we'll take a look at why converting from aluminum to PET offers multiple strategic advantages beyond just tariff relief.
PET VS ALUMINUM: 5 ADVANTAGES TO CONVERTING
PET packaging offers not just immediate tariff relief, but multiple strategic advantages that position forward-thinking brands for long-term success.
1. PET provides an immediate cost reduction
Converting to PET packaging doesn't just shield you from 25% aluminum tariffs – it transforms your entire packaging economics through multiple cost advantages:
- Lower production temperatures: PET processes at just 280°C versus aluminum's 660°C, dramatically reducing energy consumption and associated costs.
- Stable raw material pricing: With PET resin currently at approximately $0.62USD/lbs its cost has fluctuated $0.74USD or +/- 15% over the last 10 years, you gain relative predictability in an otherwise volatile market.1
- Weight reduction benefits: PET's significantly lighter weight compounds savings throughout your distribution network by reducing transportation expenses.
Since resin typically accounts for 75-85% of overall packaging costs, the efficiency gains from converting to PET deliver immediate financial reprieve. Many brands and producers discover that what was an initial move to avoid tariffs quickly evolves into a competitive advantage through these structural cost improvements.
2. A more secure supply chain
Converting to PET establishes a more resilient supply network through several key advantages:
- Domestic sourcing: PET offers a stable, locally-sourced alternative less susceptible to international trade disruptions and geopolitical uncertainties.
- Consistent availability: While aluminum faces potential shortages, PET provides reliable supply, allowing for more dependable production planning.
- Simplified production: PET eliminates the need for protective plastic liners required with reactive aluminum, reducing secondary component dependencies.
- Fewer specialty materials: No need for the higher-quality alloys required for consistent aluminum can openings, further reducing exposure to specialized material shortages.
By transitioning to PET, producers gain both short-term stability and long-term resilience against future supply disruptions. This shift from a vulnerable, import-dependent system to a more secure domestic supply chain provides security in an increasingly unpredictable global trade environment.
3. Environmental performance
Environmental performance has become a critical decision factor for both consumers and regulators, and PET delivers measurable advantages over aluminum across key sustainability metrics.
PET's environmental advantages over aluminum include:
- 1.7x lower carbon footprint (64g vs 106g CO?e per 500ml CSD)2
- 1.3x less energy to produce (1.44MJ vs 1.85MJ per 500ml CSD)2
- 3.8x less blue water consumption (0.44kg vs 1.69kg BWC per 500ml CSD)2
- 100% bottle-to-bottle recycled content capability vs. aluminum's 3% average can-to-can recycled content3.
Perhaps most significantly, converting to PET eliminates the production of red mud, a toxic byproduct of aluminum refining. By eliminating this environmental liability, brands can substantially reduce their packaging's ecological footprint.
Husky's sustainable solutions amplify these environmental benefits, with systems globally helping to save an estimated 19 million tons of CO?e annually. All Husky systems are designed to process up to 100% recycled PET, enabling brands to maximize recycled content without compromising production quality or efficiency.
A range of leading coffee brands, including Starbucks, Costa Coffee, and Craft Boss, have successfully converted from aluminum cans to PET bottles. This transition enabled these brands to eliminate BPA concerns and address growing consumer demand for more environmentally responsible packaging solutions – all while maintaining their premium market position.
4. PET increases design flexibility and premiumization potential
PET offers unparalleled design flexibility that aluminum simply cannot match, providing brands with several distinct advantages:
- Innovative shapes: PET can be molded into virtually any shape or size, enabling distinctive designs that stand out on crowded store shelves.
- Visual appeal: PET's clarity showcases the product, creating immediate visual differentiation.
- Enhanced functionality: PET packaging enables convenient reseal-ability and ergonomic designs that translate directly to improved consumer experience.
- Premium positioning: PET's sophisticated appearance supports higher price points and elevated brand perception, justifying value-based pricing strategies.
These aesthetic and functional advantages enable producers to create packaging that truly reflects brand identity and meets evolving consumer expectations.
5. PET enables circular innovation
Converting to PET opens the door to leading circular packaging innovations that aluminum simply cannot match, future-proofing your brand against evolving sustainability requirements and consumer expectations:
- Label-free packaging: Eliminates traditional labels by printing directly on PET containers, simplifying recycling processes and reducing the potential for recycling stream contamination.
- 100% recycled content: Modern PET processing systems can utilize up to 100% recycled PET (rPET) without compromising performance, supporting truly closed-loop recycling systems.
- Package lightweighting: Minimizes material use in PET containers, simultaneously lowering a package’s carbon footprint and reducing production and material costs.
- Tethered closures: Keeps caps with bottles, reducing waste while improving recyclability rates in line with emerging regulations.
- PET closures: Supports true circularity with mono-material packaging that simplifies recycling and increases bale yields.
By embracing these innovations now, manufacturers gain both immediate benefits and long-term competitive advantages while building brand equity with increasingly sustainability-conscious consumers.
1 Latest Resin Prices - United States, Canada, Mexico | Plastics News
3 2024_Aluminum-Can-KPI-Report_Final.pdf
How Husky can help you convert to PET
Husky provides a complete range of PET packaging solutions. With decades of experience and a global network of experts, we provide:
- Global expertise: Our packaging specialists collaborate with you to optimize designs for durability, functionality, and efficiency.
- Customized solutions: We offer tailored preform, bottle, and closure designs, and our Package Development Center provides validation, prototyping and testing.
- Proven technologies: Husky’s end-to-end systems streamline PET preform manufacturing for all application and production volumes, while our diverse dispensing solutions enhance product performance.
- Comprehensive support: From project management to ongoing after-sales service, Husky ensures smooth operations and sustained productivity from concept to completion and beyond.