PET bottle collections up 20%

Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 31 July 2008

 

Around 40% of all used PET bottles in Europe were collected for recycling in 2007, according to trade association Petcore.

 

Petcore (PET containers recycling Europe) today (31 July) announced that post-sorting PET collection increased by 20% in 2007 to 1.13m tonnes, or 40% of the total amount on the market.

 

The amount of recycled PET used for blowmoulding increased by 18%, compared with 2006, by 24% for the sheet market and 32% for strapping.

 

Petcore chairman Roberto Bertaggia welcomed the increase and called for recognition of PET as "the most important polymer" helping to meet European plastics recycling targets.

 

According to the Packaging and Packaging Waste directive, EU member states have to recycle a minimum 22.8% of plastic packaging from the household waste stream this year. It rises to 50% by 2010.