The carbon footprint, encompassing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, measures the environmental impact of our activities. Producing new, or virgin, PET material emits 2.15 kg of CO2 equivalent for every kilogram produced. In contrast, recycled PET significantly reduces this impact, with a carbon footprint of just 0.45 kg CO2 equivalent per kilogram. This means using recycled PET cuts greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 1.7 kg per kilogram, or 79%, compared to virgin PET.