PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2021

imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Vangerowstraße 33 69115 Heidelberg, Germany phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 [email protected] EDITORIAL Kay Barton Heike Fischer Gabriele Kosmehl Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Waldemar Schmitke Anthony Withers WikiPETia.info [email protected] MEDIA CONSULTANTS Martina Hirschmann [email protected] Johann Lange-Brock [email protected] phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 LAYOUT AND PREPRESS EXPRIM Werbeagentur | exprim.de Matthias Gaumann READER SERVICES Till Kretner [email protected] PRINT Chroma Druck Eine Unternehmung der Limberg-Druck GmbH Danziger Platz 6 67059 Ludwigshafen, Germany WWW www.hbmedia.net | w ww.petpla.net PETplanet Insider ISSN 1438-9459 is published 10 times a year. This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (1-year subscription 149 EUR, 2-year subscription 289 EUR, Young professionals’ sub- scription 99 EUR. Magazines will be dispatched to you by airmail). Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Note: The fact that product names may not be identified as trademarks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 07+08/21 www.petpla.net Dear readers, The view from America You will find two top talks from America in this issue, first with Auri Marçon of Abipet, the non-profit Brazilian PET Industry Association, and then with Tony Radoszewski, President & CEO of the US organisation Plastics. Although the markets could hardly be more different, both report the difficulties of getting enough collected bottles for the production of rPET. In North America the problem is systemic. Waste is not separated in the municipalities and therefore PET bottles have to be laboriously separated from the waste stream. In Brazil, it was more of a corona-related problem. The essentially manual collection declined as people tended to stay at home shielding. Nevertheless, in both countries the demand for rPET is greater than the quantities produced. In Brazil in particular, the big brands with their rPET specifications have found a ready response amongst consumers, meaning that smaller bottlers now also have to follow suit. While in Brazil the recycling of bottles is already at the old level of 55% of used bottles, in the USA the recycling rate can hardly be increased due to the system. Deposit systems for PET bottles in the USA have only a small and sporadic impact. It is questionable how, in times of environmental debate, sustainability and the anti-plastic movements, the USA can allow itself to remain for years stuck at the almost constant 30% PET recycling quota. Yours sincerely, Alexander Büchler