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Since the beginning of this year, due to the supply constraints of recycled bottles and related recycled bottles, as well as rising energy and transportation costs, the global market, especially in Europe, colorless post-consumer bottle (PCR) and flake prices have reached unprecedented highs, and the introduction of regulations to increase the recyclable content of products in many parts of the world, Has also been driving the major brand owners to this “explosive demand growth.”

According to Fact. MR, the global recycled PET (rPET) market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8 per cent by the end of 2031, totaling US $4.2 billion, as consumer and market preferences for sustainable and recyclable products continue to grow.

Since February 2022, many chemical companies, packaging companies and brands have built or acquired recycling plants in Europe and the Americas to continuously expand recycling capacity and increase rPET capacity.

ALPLA works with Coca-Cola bottlers to build PET recycling plants

Plastic packaging company ALPLA and Coca-Cola bottler Coca-Cola FEMSA recently announced the start of construction of a PET recycling plant in Mexico to expand their North American rPET capacity, and the companies announced the launch of new facilities or machines that will add up to 110 million pounds of rPET to the market.

The $60 million PLANETA recycling plant will have “the most advanced technology in the world,” with the capacity to process 50,000 metric tons of post-consumer PET bottles and produce 35,000 tons of rPET, or about 77 million pounds, per year.

The construction and operation of the new plant will also provide 20,000 direct and indirect jobs, contributing to development and employment in southeastern Mexico.

Coca-Cola FEMSA is part of Coca-Cola’s “World Without Waste” initiative, which aims to make all of the company’s packaging 100 percent recyclable by 2025, integrate 50 percent rPET resin into bottles and collect 100 percent of packaging by 2030.

Plastipak expands rPET’s annual production capacity by 136%

On January 26th Plastipak, Europe’s largest producer of rPET, significantly expanded its rPET capacity at its Bascharage plant in Luxembourg by 136%. The construction and trial production of the new facility, which took a total of 12 months, is now officially announced for production at the same location as its bottle embryo and blow bottle facilities and will supply Germany and the Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg Union (Benelux).

Currently, Plastipak has facilities in France, the UK, and the US (HDPE and PET), and recently announced an investment in a new production facility in Spain with a capacity of 20,000 tonnes, which will be operational by summer 2022. The new facility in Luxembourg will increase Plastipak’s share of European capacity from 27% to 45.3%. The company said last August that its three plants had a combined European capacity of 130,000 tons.

The manufacturing site, which opened back in 2008, converts post-consumer bottles’ recyclable rPET flakes into food-grade recyclable rPET pellets. The rPET particles are used to produce new bottle embryos and packaging containers.

Pedro Martins, Executive Managing Director of Plastipak Europe, said: “This investment is designed to increase our rPET production capacity and demonstrates Plastipak’s long-term commitment to bottle-to-bottle recycling and our leadership position in the PET circular economy.”

In 2020, recycled PET from Plastipak’s plants across Europe accounted for 27% of the recycled resin, while the Bascharage site accounted for 45.3%. The expansion will further enhance Plastipak’s production position.

To help customers cope with a new tax that comes into effect in the UK on 1 April, PET box maker AVI Global Plastics has launched a hard box containing 30% post-consumer rPET, which is 100% recyclable. According to the company, rPET hard boxes can help fresh retailers adopt better packaging without compromising on transparency, strength and other properties.

The new UK tax will affect 20,000 producers, users and importers. Last year, the company also launched 100% food grade rPET mussels and hard boxes made from EFSA certified processes.