NAPCOR RELEASES 2019 PET RECYCLING REPORT: RPET CONTENT IN BOTTLES AND CONTAINERS GROW

Charlotte, NC – The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) announced today the release of the 2019 PET Recycling Report. The report cites a 2019 United States recycling rate of 27.9 percent for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles, a slight decrease from the 2018 rate of 28.9 percent.

While NAPCOR has analyzed US recycling rates for decades, for the first time the 2019 report also includes a North American PET recycling rate, incorporating recycling statistics from Mexico and Canada in addition to the US. Higher recycling rates in Mexico and Canada push the North American regional PET recovery total above that of the US alone, to 35%.

“The inclusion of a North American rate is appropriate and encouraging in light of a suggested test and recycling rate threshold published by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy,” said Darrel Collier, NAPCOR Executive Director.

According to the group’s Global Commitment Progress Report 2020, “the suggested thresholds to prove recycling or composting works ‘in practice and at scale’ are: a 30% recycling/composting rate achieved across multiple regions, collectively representing at least 400 million inhabitants.”

Collier continues, “PET is the one plastic that continues to demonstrate the ability to be recycled over and over. The PET reclamation industry is primed to receive more bottles to meet the demands of the circular economy, but we still have work to do on the collection side.”

NAPCOR’s report examines the use of RPET in end markets. In recent years significant growth has been demonstrated in both Food/Beverage and Non-Food/Beverage Bottle categories, with total bottle end markets up by 41% between 2017 and 2019. That growth was offset by a decline in the PET Thermoform and Sheet market, which saw a 16% percent drop within that timeframe. While Fiber remains the dominant end market category as a fraction of the total, it grew by less than one percent since 2018; RPET use in Strapping markets was down by approximately the same percentage.

“The increase of postconsumer RPET usage in Food/Beverage and Non-Food/Beverage Bottles points to a continued commitment toward a circular economy by brand owners,” states Tom Busard, NAPCOR Chairman, Chief Procurement Officer for Plastipak Packaging, Inc., and President of Clean Tech, Plastipak’s recycling affiliate. “We are encouraged and supportive of this objective.”

Of other significance, the PET Thermoforms collected for recycling surpassed 2018 number, resulting in its highest level with 144 million pounds collected. In 2019, end market segments within some key thermoform markets announced content commitments for postconsumer recycled PET thermoforms.

The recycling rate is derived by using the total volume of recycled PET material collected in the US and purchased by domestic processors (reclaimers) or export markets in 2019 — 1,774 million pounds — taken as a percentage of the total volume of PET resin used in U.S. bottles and potentially available for recycling, 6,365 million pounds. Of that 1,774 million pounds collected, 1,635 million pounds was purchased and processed by domestic PET reclaimers, with the balance of collected material, 139 million pounds, sold to export markets, including Canada. The postconsumer PET recycling data reflects the disruption to global markets that occurred at the start of 2018, with export volumes outside of Canada remaining very low relative to historic levels at just four percent of total collection in 2019.

NAPCOR continues to work to address the industry’s ongoing challenges, with particular focus on methods to increase the amount of PET that gets recycled. This is the twenty-fifth year that the PET Recycling Report has been issued by NAPCOR. The full 2019 PET Recycling Report may be purchased on the NAPCOR website, www.napcor.com.

Founded in 1987, the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) is the industry association for the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic packaging industry in the United States, Canada and Mexico. NAPCOR is dedicated to promoting the PET package; to overcoming hurdles to the successful recycling of PET; and to communicating the attributes of the PET container as a sustainable package. Visit www.napcor.com to learn more about PET.