PET to PET Recycling Austria (Müllendorf; www.pet2pet.at) said it has recycled 32,283 t of PET beverage bottles in 2023. Although the first and second half differed markedly, the overall tonnage is essentially the same as the previous year’s 32,900 t.

Following the record recycling volume of 17,755 t in the January-June period, volumes decreased significantly between July and December due to high energy costs and more favourably priced primary raw materials.

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The PET-to-PET consortium, which includes beverage companies Coca-Cola HBC Austria, Egger, Rauch, S.Spitz, and Vöslauer Mineralwasser, has announced investments in light of the deposit the Austrian government aims to introduce on single-use beverage bottles as of 2025.

Thomas Billes, managing director of the consortium, said, “We expect a higher return volume and better-quality bottles, making it possible to further increase the proportion of recycled material per bottle. However, we will also need to adapt our plant to the changed material qualities”.

This year, PET to PET Recycling plans to add another 140 m³ storage silo to the existing silo facility, which has a storage capacity of around 640 m³. It said it will also build a 225 m² office and an approximately 100 m² workshop for mechanical and electrical maintenance.

At PET to PET, the incoming bottles are manually assessed and sorted before being ground into flakes and washed. Either PET flakes or PET pellets are then produced on two different processing lines, both of which are food-grade.

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Specific targets for recycled content in PET bottles are under discussion in Austria. The share of recyclate should reach at least 25% by 2025, rising to 30% by 2030. In response to a Plasteurope.com query, a company spokesperson said that across the consortium, the average share of recycled content is already at 40%.