The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) has released its 2022 PET Recycling Report. The report found that PET recycling rates held steady with the U.S. rate at 29 percent and the North American PET recycling rate at 37.8 percent. Demand for recycled PET (rPET) also remained strong in 2022, and a new milestone was reached with over 50 percent of end market consumption in the U.S. and Canada in bottle markets for the first time.
“There is a growing demand for recycled content from manufacturers within both the food/beverage and non-food bottle categories,” said Laura Stewart, NAPCOR executive director. “This is continued evidence that packaging made from PET can be reused and repurposed and has a key role to play in the circular economy. Everyone involved, including manufacturers, consumers and packagers, needs to work together and make significant changes to ensure enough PET is collected and full circularity can be achieved.”
“It is encouraging to see strong demand for postconsumer recycled PET,” said Tom Busard, NAPCOR chairman, chief polymers and recycling officer for Plastipak Packaging, Inc., and president of Clean Tech, Plastipak’s recycling affiliate. “To continue meeting this demand, there is a need to see increased collection to meet both legislated and voluntary recycled content demands of the future.”
