A survey on PET recycling in Europe by trade association Petcore (Brussels / Belgium; www.petcore.org) has revealed that around 65 bn bottles were recycled last year. Chairman of Petcore Europe, Roberto Bertaggia, said: “The demand for PET as the packaging material of choice continues to grow, penetrating new markets with innovative applications.” He added that the ability of PET to be recycled and reused in a wide variety of end-uses is helping the region move towards a circular economy.

However, continued Bertaggia, there is still a huge disparity in collection rates among the member states and all stakeholders need to work together to align the collection processes to deliver the increased recycling objectives announced by the European Commission – (see Plasteurope.com of 04.07.2014). Petcore said about 56% of PET containers in circulation were collected for recycling.

According to Casper van den Dungen, PET chairman at Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu) and a board member of Petcore Europe, PET bottle collection rose by 7% in 2013 to 1.64m t, with considerable spare recycling capacity left. He cautioned, however, that the increasing complexity of some collected baled bottles will reduce the industry’s ability to put the spare capacity to use. “Improved and standardised collection and sorting processes would help address this situation,” he said.

Petcore’s findings will be presented during the „PET Network Day 2014" conference in Brussels / Belgium, on 9 October.