The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) has released its 2020 PET Recycling Report. The 26th annual report reveals a 10 percent increase in end use consumption of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET) in the U.S. and Canada. This increase signals strong support of postconsumer content in brand packaging and demonstrates the resiliency of polyethylene’s (PET) value – even during a pandemic.
Examining the use of RPET in specific end markets, the report positions the industry at a pivotal point where food/beverage and non-food/beverage bottle categories grew by 32 percent in total, surpassing fiber for the first time as the largest end market user of postconsumer PET bottles.
In addition, over the past decade, there has been a cumulative increase in RPET consumption in U.S. and Canadian markets, climbing from 1 billion lbs. in 2010 to 1.8 billion lbs. in 2020.
NAPCOR’s analysis shows the higher market demand outpaced collection, which drove PET reclaimers to rely more heavily on imports, after depleting their existing inventory.
While demand was strong, collection of PET bottles decreased by approximately 2.3 percent in the U.S., which resulted in a 26.6 percent recycling rate for PET plastic bottles, a decrease from the 2019 rate of 27.9 percent. The decline in recycling rate is not surprising, given the challenges faced in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 North American PET recycling rate is 33.9 percent, which incorporates statistics from Mexico and Canada, in addition to the U.S. This is a slight drop from the 35 percent reported in 2019.
Published in the December 2021 Edition