Europe: Upturn in PET bottle recycling

Archiv – Some 790 000 tonnes of post-consumer PET plastic bottles were collected for recycling in Europe last year – up 15.1% from 2004, according to PET packaging trade association Petcore.Some 790 000 tonnes of post-consumer PET plastic bottles were collected for recycling in Europe last year – up 15.1% from 2004, according to PET packaging trade association Petcore.
The increase in PET collection continues to exceed growth in consumption. The increase was led by Germany where separate collection surged 32% to more than 200 000 tonnes. Healthy increases were also reported in Poland and France. Collection also increased in the UK and Ireland, but mostly in the form of mixed plastic waste which is not included in the Petcore statistics.
The share of recovered PET exported to the Far East fell from 18.8% in 2004 to 17.6% (or 140 000 tonnes) last year. More than 100 000 tonnes of exported bottles came from German retailers, despite ample availability of recycling capacity in Germany and its surrounding countries. Petcore’s Director General Frank Koelewijn comments: ’There are two reasons why we are concerned about those developments. First, it is very hard to explain to German consumers why the bottles they bring back to the shops need to be shipped to the other side of the world to be recovered, as they can actually be recycled closer to home. Second, China will close its doors one day. What will the retailers do with all those bottles if, by then, the local recyclers have perished?’€™
Some 57% of the collected PET containers were recycled into polyester fibre products – down from 65% in 2004 and 70% in 2003.