In Germany, PET bottles are being recycled "at almost peak levels". Dr Isabell Schmidt, Managing Director of the Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (IK), points this out. 93 per cent of all PET bottles in the disposable and reusable sector were recycled in 2017. A rate of 97.3 per cent was even achieved in the single-use sector alone.
Basis for determining the IK is the updated study "Volume and utilisation of PET beverage bottles in Germany", which was conducted by the Society for Packaging Market Research (GVM) on behalf of the Forums PET was compiled by the IK. According to the IK, the figures based on data from 2017 also show that the proportion of recycled PET material in plastic bottles has increased slightly.
Germany's deposit system plays a pioneering role
Germany fulfils the Deposit system already clearly exceeds the 90 per cent rate required by the European Union for the separate collection of waste. PET bottlesemphasises the IK Managing Director. Elsewhere, however, the introduction of a deposit system is still being discussed.
The updated GVM study pays particular attention to the Use of recycled PET material. The important area of application is therefore already the Bottle-to-bottle recycling. Just under a third (32.6 per cent) of the "rPET" is used to produce new PET bottles. Almost 30 per cent of the used beverage packaging goes to the film industry. More than 20 per cent is used in the textile fibre industry.
Greater use of recycled PET material remains the goal
An even greater use of rPET in PET bottle production would be made more difficult by the fact that it is a sought-after recyclable material and therefore increasing its price, explains Dr Schmidt. The GVM study currently shows a share of 26.2 per cent rPET in new beverage bottles. In the previous studies from 2015 and 2013, the proportion was still 26 and 24 per cent respectively. The proportion of recycled material has therefore only increased slightly.
Nevertheless, Dr Isabell Schmidt emphasises: "Increasing the proportion of recycled PET material is the goal of the beverage industry." The PET Forum therefore welcomes initiatives to increase the Recyclate quota in beverage bottles such as the new target mark of the RAL Gütegemeinschaft Wertstoffkette PET-Getränkeverpackungen. PET bottles with RAL quality mark should consist of half rPET by 2022. The GVM study also shows that recycled materials will account for an average of 50 per cent.
No significant export of used PET bottles to China
Meanwhile, the PET Forum denies that there are any significant exports of used PET bottles to China is given. The GVM study analysed this aspect for the first time on the occasion of the ban on the import of plastic waste into the Asian country. The results showed that only around three per cent of used PET bottles were exported to China. "In fact, China used to import large quantities of used PET bottles in order to process them into polyester yarn for the textile industry. However, German recyclers have been building up sufficient recycling capacities in this country for many years, as the recyclable material is also in high demand in the local industry," comments Dr Isabell Schmidt.
[infotext icon]Download PET bottle study
You can download the study "Volume and recycling of PET beverage bottles in Germany" from the Website of the PET Forum download.
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