Category: PET production

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Textile recycled into clear bottles!

November 19, 2020

The latest recycling milestone brings new value to an otherwise waste-destined 42 million tons of polyester textiles produced annually. Read the astonishing article below.

Photo credit: Carbios

CARBIOS a company pioneering new enzymatic solutions to reinvent the lifecycle of plastic and textile polymers, today announced it has successfully produced the first bottles containing 100% recycled Purified Terephthalic Acid (rPTA) from textile waste that contains a high PET content. This result confirms the capacity of Carbios’ technology to recycle textile waste and opens up access to an additional waste stream of up to 42 million tons per year, worth over $ 40 billion.

Currently, mechanical recycling technologies do not enable clothing waste to be recycled efficiently. The few textiles that can be reused, are incorporated into lower quality applications such as padding, insulators or rags. This process is called “downcycling”.

In contrast, the breakthrough developed by Carbios enables polyester textile fibers to be “upcycled” in a high quality grade of PET suitable for the production of clear bottles.

Transparent bottles can be produced from polyester textile waste or from post-consumer colored bottles. But it works both ways – also a t-shirt can be made from bottles or disposable food trays. They succeeded in producing PET fibers for textile applications with 100% rPTA, from enzymatically recycled PET plastic waste.

Carbios’ process enables low-value waste to be recovered and to have a new life in more challenging applications – in short, it facilitates infinite recycling of PET-based plastics and textiles. This innovative enzymatic waste recycling technology is fully in line with European objectives of creating a circular economy and strengthening environmental protection.

Here you can read the whole article.

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Travel in style. With a suitcase made of RPET!

“The most eco-friendly suitcases in the world!” A revolutionary development by Princess Traveller.

Another good example what can be done with recycled PET (or recycled plastic in common).

Travel in style!

It is the first suitcase brand in the world, that has developed a series of suitcases made from recycled PET material; The Green Collection. Where earlier in suitcases only the fabric inner lining were made of recycled PET, Princess Traveller has taken it a big step further. Not only the inner lining, but the full hardcase itself and the zippers are made from recycled PET material.

Also the hangtags and shipping carton are made of environmentally friendly craft paper.

Recycled-Sustainable-Circular Economy!

So I suppose, as travelling is an option within the corona restrictions, the whole recycling community will travel in style 😉.

For more details or if you want to order a suitcase, check their website or LinkedIn.

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Is Ocean Bound Plastic a new profitable market?

Or just an accelerator in professionalizing the branch?

The questions to be answered:

Are you willing to pay more for rPET if it’s been labeled as Ocean Bound Plastic ?

And what if some of the rPET doesn’t apply to the definition ?

Will traceability and certification be standard in a quality program ?

The term Ocean Bound plastics leads in almost every case back to Jenna Jambeck. The definition of Ocean-bound plastic was defined and published in Science in 2015:

  • [Waste plastic] found within 50km distance of an ocean coastline or major waterway that feeds into the ocean
  • The country or region lacks waste management infrastructure and collection incentives
  • The infrastructure is being overwhelmed by population growth or tourism
  • There is a significant risk to wildlife if plastic contaminates their ecosystem.

Nowadays companies are offering ocean-bound plastic as an alternative option anduse her definition as a basis for their marketing activities and corporate social responsibility programs. Most of the companies made their own interpretation of the definition and changed or added specifications!

Needless to say that collecting these plastics before they reach oceans is a useful initiative. It is also easier and cheaper than once they have drowned in the bottom of oceans or are dispersed as a soup of micro particles. It is commonly admitted that 80% of plastic in the seas, comes from land.

Using the definition of OBP will introduce the aspect of traceability. It gives converters, buyers, manufacturers and consumers a better insight in the origins of the material next to a better feeling for consumers that they are doing the right thing! Plastic waste and pollution originate from several different sources. Besides Ocean Bound Plastic, also plastic is collected as a by-product of production and manufacturing, in streams, rivers flowing to the ocean, material washed up on coasts and of course in the ocean itself.

Defined areas with plastic waste

Local communities in at-risk areas where plastic will end up in the oceans will profit from the term Ocean Bound Plastic. They will be incentivized to collect, sort and process plastic waste into high-quality recycled material. Also consumers with the option to purchase products packaged in recycled material that has been proven to come from at-risk regions of the world will feel good to contribute to the reduction of waste and pollution.

The same consumers will ask for traceability and preferably a third party certification to be sure they bought the right, more expensive, goods. But can traceability be 100% guaranteed and what will be the consequences for communities and initiatives outside of the area defined for Ocean Bound Plastic ?

The process of making it traceable and also certified makes the branch more professional and helps to achieve quality standards. It also contributes to a better awareness of our worldwide problem with waste and pollution. But these initiatives in the process also make the material more expensive. The questions I have:

  • Are you as a buyer, manufacturer, consumer willing to pay more knowing where the material, with the same quality, is coming from?
  • Do you mind if a part of the recycled material is not applying to the ocean bound plastic definition?
  • Will traceability and certification (more than a CoO or Form A) be standard in the future for any recycled material?

In essence, we should pay more for material from an at-risk area because we prevented the material from entering the ocean. However, the converters and traders are under pressure from brands that want them to supply recycled content at the lowest possible price. It will be a financially challenging situation for recyclers.

Let’s find it out together! Dutch PET Recycling is also working with suppliers offering Ocean Bound Plastic.

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“Recycling is very good, reuse is even better.”

State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven (Ministry for Infrastructure and Water Management in the Netherlands) starts a new offensive against packaging waste together with manufacturers. The aim is to reduce the use of packaging, to stimulate reuse of packaging and to improve the quality of collection and recycling.

It concerns the introduction of European rules, whereby Van Veldhoven goes one step further together with the packaging industry in the Netherlands. In addition to introducing the European recycling targets, it has agreed concrete circular targets with packaging companies up to and including 2025 by adding reuse to recycling. The Netherlands is the first European country to set circular objectives in this way.

Mindmap how to reach EU’s 25% targets in 2025

Read the full story (in Dutch):

Van Veldhoven start nieuw offensief tegen verpakkingsafval

Staatssecretaris Stientje van Veldhoven start samen met producenten een nieuw offensief tegen verpakkingsafval. Dit schrijft zij aan de Tweede Kamer. Doel hiervan is het gebruik van verpakkingen terug te dringen, hergebruik van verpakkingen te stimuleren en de kwaliteit van inzameling en recycling te verbeteren.

Het gaat om invoering van Europese regels, waarbij van Veldhoven samen met het verpakkend bedrijfsleven in Nederland nog een stap verder gaat. Naast het invoeren van de Europese recycle doelstellingen heeft zij tot en met 2025 concrete circulaire doelstellingen met het verpakkend bedrijfsleven afgesproken door hergebruik aan recycling toe te voegen. Nederland is het eerste Europese land dat op deze manier circulaire doelstellingen vastlegt.

Van Veldhoven: “Recyclen is goed, hergebruik is nóg beter. Het Nederlandse verpakkende bedrijfsleven behoort internationaal tot de koplopers in het slimmer omgaan met materialen en het besparen van CO2. Dit verdient een compliment. Samen werken we toe naar een schone, groene toekomst.”

Cees de Mol van Otterloo, directeur van het Afvalfonds Verpakkingen: “In Nederland realiseren we voor verpakkingen al hoge recycleresultaten. Met de nieuwe recycledoelstellingen wordt een nieuwe stip op de horizon gezet op weg naar een circulaire economie voor verpakkingen.”

Het gaat om nieuwe afspraken over recycling en hergebruik van glas, kunststof, papier en karton, metaal en hout. Het EU-recyclingdoel voor alle verpakkingen samen is zeventig procent voor 2030. Nederland haalt deze doelstelling in 2021 al en legt de lat hoger. In 2025 moet in Nederland 74 procent gerecycled en/of hergebruikt worden.

Eén van de maatregelen om dit doel te halen, is door het scheiden voor burgers eenvoudiger te maken. Met uitzondering van glas en oud-papier, horen straks alle lege verpakkingen bij het PMD (Plastic, Metaal en Drankkartons). De inzameling van glazen bierflesjes is en blijft een vrijwillig systeem. De laatste jaren doken echter steeds meer bierflesjes op zonder statiegeld. Door hergebruik mee te tellen, is er nu een prikkel voor producenten om statiegeld op deze flesjes te behouden en uit te bereiden.

Nederland is vooralsnog het enige Europese land dat, naast recycle doelstellingen, ook ambitieuze circulaire doelstellingen samen met het verpakkend bedrijfsleven heeft afgesproken. De Nederlandse circulaire -en Europese recycledoelen worden wettelijk vastgelegd en per 2021 ingevoerd. In 2025 wordt de werking van beide doelstellingen geëvalueerd.

Van Veldhoven: “We zijn als Nederland goed op weg, maar we willen toe naar alle verpakkingen recyclen en producenten stimuleren over te gaan tot hergebruik. Met deze circulaire doelstellingen zetten we een forse stap in de goede richting voor een schone, groene circulaire economie.”

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A new PET recycling stream…

Will we have a new recycled PET stream? Besides Clear, Light Blue and Green also Opaque might become interesting. Dutch PET Recycling shares this article of PETplanet.

Bottle-to-bottle recycling of light barrier white opaque PET

Bottles in opaque PET are increasingly replacing other material grades, especially in markets such as dairy and other sectors where demand is increasing. Thus far, a main concern was that the white opaque PET would lose one of the most important characteristics of PET, recyclability, but Spanish company Novapet is demonstrating that white opaque monolayer bottles can be separated and recycled into new bottles again.

In order to demonstrate the feasibility and viability of the monolayer white PET recycling, Novapet has created, for the first time, a dedicated recycling stream of this material in a commercial recycling facility, sorting and recycling white opaque PET bottles into white flakes from standard bales collected in Spain. The recycling process is based on IR/VIS sorters, which are available in the majority of plants. It will require a detailed market study to assess the amount of input material and to adapt the configuration of the sorting system.

The white flakes can be decontaminated according EFSA requirements and used again as raw material for the production of a recycled opacifier masterbatch or directly to rPET mono-layer bottles. Various formulas would have to be applied depending on final use and light barrier requirements, to maintain the same machine throughput and without impacting properties, functionality and colour.

Novapet’s specialist team have technically validated that it is possible to reprocess the white flakes, thus obtaining new white opaque resin and masterbatch formulations. All these formulations have been characterised along the entire process, controlling the key variables, in order to assure good processability and the decontamination conditions in the SSP reactor. Thus the process demonstrates that the recycling process to produce white recycled PET is able to be used for manufacturing containers in the food industry.

The new family of recycled products, rDCU and rDairy, will be commercially available by the end of 2020.

The complete article can be read in PETplanet Insider 6 / 2020

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Deposit on plastic bottles excellent news for the environment

We are happy to share an article about new deposit measures by Dutch government regarding PET bottles. The original article was written by Tom Zoete, 24 april 2020, of Recycling Netwerk.

In the Netherlands, a deposit return system for small plastic bottles will come into effect on the 1st of July 2021, the Dutch State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, Stientje van Veldhoven, announced today in a letter to the Parliament.

This entails a huge expansion of the current deposit return system in the Netherlands. “After decades of resistance by industry, this government’s decision is excellent news in the fight against plastic pollution”, director Rob Buurman of environmental NGO Recycling Netwerk Benelux reacts.

Currently, only plastic bottles larger than 1 liter have a deposit in the Netherlands. On the 1st of July 2021, small bottles under 1 liter will come with a deposit amount of minimum 0.15 euro. Each year, 1 billion small plastic bottles are sold in the Netherlands. Between 50 and 100 million of them end up in litter. The Dutch authorities are also preparing legislation for deposits on beverage cans.

In 2017, Recycling Netwerk Benelux co- founded the “Statiegeldalliantie” (Deposit Return System Alliance) in order to give a voice to Dutch and Belgian proponents of a deposit return system (DRS) on all plastic bottles and cans. The alliance grew very rapidly and today counts 1055 Dutch and Belgian consumer organisations, farmer organisations, municipalities, and a wide variety of organisations and companies.

In the process, the Dutch authorities commissioned a study on the economic and environmental benefits of DRS. The results were very convincing. In every scenario the estimated net benefits for businesses (31 – 121 million euro) outweigh the costs (10 – 110 million euro). They would also save between 5.5 and 8 million euro on alternative collection systems. And additionally, municipalities could save between 83 and 90 million euro on the costs of cleaning up plastic bottles and cans and emptying public garbage bins. DRS is expected to reduce the amount of these beverage containers in the environment with 70-90% and significantly increase recycling rates of plastic bottles and cans.

Over the years, Dutch supermarkets and beverage producers have made promises over and over again to reduce plastic bottles and cans in litter and have failed to do so every time. The government gave industry, which was still heavily lobbying against DRS, one last chance to reduce the number of plastic bottles in the environment with at least 70% between 2017 and 2019. In these two years, however, the amount of plastic bottles in litter actually increased with 7% and the cans increased with 16%, according to the official monitoring results.

Importantly, the European Directive on Single-Use Plastics demands that Member States achieve a 90% separate collection of plastic bottles by the end of the decade. The Netherlands has advanced its national deadline and is determined to reach this 90% separate collection target already in 2022 by means of DRS.

“By implementing a deposit on small plastic bottles, the Netherlands takes a big step. The Dutch government shows that this is no time to delay or abandon our environmental ambitions. Even in difficult times it’s possible to make good policy decisions that will benefit the economy, society and the environment, rather than bowing to industry attempts to use the pandemic as an excuse for backsliding on popular initiatives”, director Rob Buurman of Recycling Netwerk Benelux says.

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New technology to depolymerise PET waste

CARBIOS announces the publication of an article on its enzymatic recycling technology in the prestigious scientific journal ”Nature”. This publication outlines Company’s proprietary process for converting plastic waste into new bottles – a breakthrough towards a circular economy.

www.dutchpetrecycling.com thinks this is relevant content to share within the recycling industry. To go directly to the article on Nature.com, press the link here.

April 14, 2020 | Recycling technology | CARBIOS | Paris | France

CARBIOS, a company pioneering new bio-industrial solutions to reinvent the lifecycle of plastic and textile polymers, announces the publication of an article in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, entitled “An engineered PET-depolymerase to break down and recycle plastic bottles”. The article is co-authored by scientists at Carbios and at the Company’s renowned academic partner, the Toulouse Biotechnology Institute.

The article describes the development of a novel enzyme, which can biologically depolymerize all polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste, followed by an extremely efficient recycling into new bottles. PET is the most common thermoplastic polymer and is used to manufacture bottles, polyester clothing fibers, food containers, and various thermoformed packaging and components. Carbios’ recycling process, the first of its kind, initiates a real transition to a circular economy and can better prevent plastic pollution from harming our oceans and planet. This innovative technology also paves the way for recycling PET fibers, another major challenge in guaranteeing a clean and protected environment for future generations.

Prof. Alain Marty, Carbios’ Chief Scientific Officer and co-author of the Nature article says: “I am very proud that Nature, one of the most highly respected scientific journals in the world, has validated the quality of the research led by Carbios and TBI laboratory scientists in developing a PET recycling enzyme and a revolutionary process. The results obtained confirm the industrial and commercial potential of the Company’s proprietary process, which will be tested in 2021 in our demonstration plant in the heart of the French Chemical Valley, near Lyon.”

Sophie Duquesne, INRAE Researcher: “For any researcher, seeing its work recognized by the prestigious journal Nature is a true achievement. I am very proud of the work accomplished by the researchers at TBI and Carbios, whose collaborative efforts have led to the development of a sustainable solution to the end of life of plastics.”

Dr. Saleh Jabarin, Distinguished Professor at The University of Toledo, Ohio and a member of Carbios’ Scientific Committee: “It’s a real breakthrough in the recycling and manufacturing of PET. Thanks to the innovative technology developed by Carbios, the PET industry will become truly circular, which is the goal for all players in this industry, especially brand-owners, PET producers and our civilization as a whole.”

Bertrand Piccard, Founder and President of the Solar Impulse Foundation: “I am very pleased that the scientific community recognizes one of the solutions labelled by the Solar Impulse Foundation as a financially profitable solution to protect the environment. The use of such technology is as logical as it is ecological!”

Nature, the highest Impact Factor scientific journal, recognizes the ground-breaking quality of the enzymatic engineering research being done by Carbios and TBI, that is paving the way to virtuous management of plastic waste. “Carbios is the first company to successfully combine the two scientific worlds of enzymology and plastics”, as Dr. Philippe Pouletty, CEO of Truffle Capital and Co-founder of Carbios, comments.

By leveraging many years of experience with a world-renowned team, Carbios and TBI are proud to have been able to increase the degradation yield of PET waste to 90% in 10 hours, a significant upswing from the initial degradation yield of 1% after several weeks. This paradigm shift in how effectively PET can be recycled, is leading toward a future circular economy technology applicable to all PET waste, which Carbios is proud to be spearheading.

To read the article on Nature.com, press the link here.

More information about: www.carbios.fr

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How Corona affects our business

By Roel Wollaert; Dutch PET Recycling _________ Arnhem, 27 March 2020

Normally our posts are about market developments and news within the rPET or circular plastic industry. But the news nowadays is of course about the Corona virus. It affects all of us around the world. In this article we will give a brief overview how it has affected us so far and we will share some thoughts with you.

At Dutch PET Recycling everybody is working at home. Communication still goes rapidly with video calls and mailing. What we do miss is the face-to-face contact with our suppliers and customers. We are convinced that seeing is believing. That’s why we normally visit our suppliers and their production facilities. The time saved by not travelling we now use online. For example to promote our new website: www.dutchpetrecycling.com

At the beginning of 2020 the prospects for the recycling industry were very promising. Awareness about waste reduction and reducing CO2 emission is constantly growing. People do sort their waste more and more. Collection of waste becomes more efficient. Governments are setting targets for recycling and industries are thinking more about sustainable product designs and commit themselves to use more recycled material.

That all is good news for our suppliers. Some of them are relatively small companies, where quite a lot of families depend on. As far as we know now, the virus hasn’t caught them. Besides the health threat of Corona also an economic crisis is coming. Collecting waste might become more difficult. That will differ per region and luckily for us and our customers we have a great network of suppliers.

Sea transport is already facing some problems. Some ports do have restrictions or are locked down for a period. But most of the ports are still operating and must do that to keep the necessary (food) chains working. Also here people are working out of their home (office). This sometimes causes  delay in communication. Also prices fluctuate a lot. Overall we are very satisfied with our freight forwarders who constantly think along with us to keep the service as high as possible.

The good news in relation to our customers is that most of them operate within the food chain. Plastic packaging for confectionery or fresh food. Being an essential producer means that you don’t need to go in a lock down.

We hope and wish that everyone stays healthy. The market developments before the Corona outbreak looked very promising and we are convinced that the world will conquer the virus. It will be a matter of time. The longer it takes the worser the economic crisis will be. But at the end we think the recycling industry has a promising future ahead and that we will quickly recover from this temporarily relapse.

Wishing you and all your beloved ones a healthy and economic fruitful future.

On behalf of all employees and agents at Dutch PET Recycling.

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Chemical-recycling is growing

Companies are developing several chemical recycling technologies as they face pressure from:

  • Consumers;
  • regulators and investors

to keep plastic out of oceans and landfills.

Shoppers are actually willing to pay more for sustainable products. Not only are consumers demanding natural and healthier products, they want them sold in packaging that can be recycled and reused. Companies that sell directly to consumers are feeling this pressure, and they are relying on chemical companies to provide them with materials to placate their customers. Employees are also demanding that their employers do more to promote sustainability.

The rise of environmental, social and governance investing will create another sustainability front for chemical companies. Some lenders are even issuing loans whose interest rates are tied to borrowers meeting sustainability goals.

Chemical recycling is one way that companies can meet these demands from lenders, investors, employees and consumers.

ADVANTAGES OF CHEMICAL RECYCLING              
Chemical recycling is the ultimate closed-loop system because:

  • It brings plastics back to feedstocks that can be used to make virgin resin.
  • It also avoids some of the problems with mechanical recycling.
    • Under mechanical recycling, waste plastic is re-processed without being broken down chemically.
    • In mechanical recycling, plastics of different grades and with varying additives get mixed up, resulting in material that is heterogenous. This compromises the qualities of the material. In addition, each time a plastic is re-heated and re-processed, it becomes degraded. As the quality of the recycled plastic deteriorates, it goes into less demanding applications. Ultimately, it ends up in the trash.
  • Chemical recycling avoids this problem because it breaks down plastic into oils and monomers, which can be used to make virgin resins.
  • Polymers such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) are chemically recycled through pyrolysis to produce oil. Pyrolysis can tolerate different grades of plastic, but the end product is an oil, which often needs further refining before it can be converted into monomers and new polymers.
  • Condensation plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) can be chemically recycled into valuable monomers, which require little processing before they can be used to make new plastics. The problem is that the waste condensation-plastics cannot tolerate much contamination before they can be recycled.
  • Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) presents its own problems since the chlorine in the polymer can react during chemical processes to produce harmful byproducts.

Given the challenges for chemical recycling, mechanical recycling can still play an important role. It doesn’t require the upfront capital costs involved with building chemical plants.

Ideally, mechanical and chemical recycling would work side by side with waste-to-energy operations at a recycling centre.

Sorting could be done by consumer, since this would require little effort on their parts. Plastic deposit fees – similar to those for bottles or aluminium cans – could give consumers more incentive to separate and sort their plastic waste.

The logistics involved with collecting plastics is as much of a challenge as perfecting the technologies involved with recycling polymers, be it mechanically or chemically.

Article based on the information of Insight article ICIS by Al Greenwood.

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New initiative for a circular plastics economy

March 6th 2020 Launch of the European Plastics Pact

About the European Plastics Pact

Initially led by France, the Netherlands and Denmark, the European Plastic Pact is a public-private coalition that forms a European network of companies, states and other organisations such as NGOs on mastering single-use plastic products and packaging.

In the face of the proliferation of plastic waste, the aim of the pact is to set ambitious common objectives and to encourage cooperation, innovation and harmonisation at the European level, in order to bring about a truly circular European plastics economy.

The Pact relies on the “pioneers” in the plastics value chain and on the most committed governments, in order to create a bold movement that will pave the way for the rest of the market.

The Pact works on all levels to reduce the release of plastics into the environment: by improving the recyclability and reusability of products by design, by shifting to a more responsible use of plastics, by increasing collection, sorting and recycling, and by incorporating more recycled materials into new products and packaging.

Mastering the use of plastics in a circular economy

Plastics are everywhere in our daily lives, bringing many economic and environmental benefits. Plastics are strong, durable and versatile materials. They enhance comfort, safety and hygiene. Using plastics packaging can increase the shelf life of products and reduce fuel costs in transportation of goods, helping to cut carbon emissions. All this has resulted in a huge surge in plastics production. Over the past fifty years, the global use of plastics has increased twentyfold and is still growing.

At the same time, plastic waste is increasingly becoming a global problem, as reuse and recycling of plastics have not kept pace. This is because many products and packaging types are not designed for reuse or effective recycling. Not all use of plastics is necessary for product functionality. In addition, collection, sorting and recycling are still underdeveloped. This means a significant proportion of our plastic waste is still being incinerated or goes to landfill, which negatively affect carbon emissions. Another part ends up as litter in our environment, where it may harm wildlife or degrade into potentially harmful microplastics. While all this valuable material is being wasted, the proportion of fossil fuel being used to produce new plastics continues to grow (from 6% of oil production now to an estimated 20% by 2050).

The common vision

To tackle plastics waste and pollution at the source, we need to fundamentally rethink the way we produce, use and reuse plastics. No single organisation or individual can do this on its own. It requires a systemic shift, involving collective action by businesses from across the plastics value chain, governments, and civil society. A common vision aligns all actors on a joint understanding of what good looks like. It guides the search for solutions and aligns actions taken in the European Plastics Pact on a common sense of direction.

For plastics, the European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy has set out a vision for a plastics circular economy in the EU. For plastic packaging, the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme, has united more than 400 organisations from across the global plastics packaging value chain behind a common vision of a circular economy for plastics. These include plastic packaging producers, consumer goods companies, retailers, companies involved in the collection, sorting and recycling of plastics, as well as national, regional and city governments, NGOs, financial institutions, industry associations, universities and other international organisations such as the World Economic Forum and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). National plastics pacts, such as The French National Pact on Plastic Packaging, the Plastics Pact NL and the UK Plastics Pact have taken action towards the same common vision for a circular economy for plastics. The European Plastics Pact adopts this vision, as this provides a global framework for our actions.

Infographic European Plastics Pact

The Goals:

  • Reusability and recyclability by design
    • To design all plastic packaging and single-use plastic products brought to the market by participants to be reusable where possible, and in all cases to be recyclable by 2025.
  • Responsible use of plastics
    • To shift towards a more responsible use of plastic packaging and single-use plastic products, aiming for a reduction in virgin plastic products and packaging of at least 20% (by weight) by 2025, with half of this reduction coming from an absolute reduction of plastics.
  • Collection, sorting and recycling
    • To raise the collection, sorting and recycling capacity in the involved countries of all plastics used in packaging and single use products by at least 25 percentage points by 2025 and to reach a quality standard of the output of the collection, sorting, and recycling process that matches market demand for recycled plastics.
  • Use of recycled plastics
    • To boost recycled plastics use in new products and packaging as much as possible by 2025, with plastics-using company achieving an average of at least 30% recycled plastics (in weight) in their range of products and packaging.