1. Not yet fully demonstrated recycling capacity
In the 3.147 million tons of PET plastic bottles and containers put into the European market in 2016, the recovery rate reached 59.8% (about 1,881,900 tons), of which 1.7732 million tons were recycled. The Petcore Europe trade group commissioned PCI Wood Mackenzie to come to this conclusion for the 2016 Western European PET Recycling Survey.
The results showed that the recovery rate increased by 7.4% and the recycling rate increased by 7.3%. Compared with 2014, the amount recovered in 2016 increased by 129,400 tons and the recycled PET amount increased by about 120,000 Ton Paola Arlotti, president of Petcore Europe, said:Although the collection and recycling of PET has been greatly improved, it is worth mentioning that its recycling capacity has not yet been fully demonstrated These figures provide a strong picture of PET 's important role in circular economy and, based on these data, have reached the EU' s goal of plastic recycling.
2.PET top five in the recovery list
The survey shows that only France, Germany and Italy accounted for the recovery of the total amount of the region's total recovery of 47.9% , But showing a downward trend compared with previous years (48.5% in 2014 and 53.3% in 2011. Today, On the recovery side, two more countries emerged in the forefront, top five with the top three nations, Spain and the United Kingdom, respectively, and they accounted for a large share of the total regional recycling Therefore, it is not surprising that plastic recycling in these five countries accounts for 70.9% of the total EU recycling.
The survey results show that the number of mineral water bottles has increased compared to previous years, and mineral water bottles account for about 17.3% of the total, and the data also show that their share increased by 2.1% in 2014, For the first time, Christian Crepet, executive director of Petcore Europe, said: 'This is an encouraging signal for recyclers and we hope this growth will continue, Among the bottles recovered, there are 26.4% transparent / light blue bottles, 25.5% green / brown mixed color bottles, and 30.8% plastic bottles mixed in other colors, which is still PET recycling A not small challenge Therefore, in our opinion, it is necessary to analyze the flow of waste that is not specified in detail, which will also become part of Petcore Europe 's research in 2018.
PET bottle recycling and reuse capabilities
Compared with 2014, the PET bottle recycling volume increased by nearly 2.5% and the actual processing volume increased by nearly 7.2% compared with the same period of 2014. The actual PET production totaled 1,773,200 tons and the nominal input volume was 2,147,600 tons. The average industry in 2016 Operating rates were close to 83%, up from 79% in 2014. "Christian Crepet said:" This is a positive result, especially considering all the challenges the r-PET industry is facing: lower resin feedstock prices, r-PET Pricing, margin pressure, reduced packaging quality and process losses.
The main market for r-PET remained plate, with 38% share, followed by 26% blow molding and 24% fiber material in 2016. The survey concluded that only about 11% remained for packaging And other applications.
The complete survey will be presented in detail at the annual Petcore Europe conference held in Brussels from February 7 to February 2018.