8 NEWS PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 No. 06/22 www.petpla.net New US PET Recycling Coalition The Recycling Partnership, a US force for improving recycling, announced the launch of its PET Recycling Coalition, an initiative informed by industry knowledge and expertise to improve PET circularity. Its work will focus on addressing key opportunities to increase PET recycling: Increasing the capture of PET bottles Broadening the acceptance of PET trays, cups, and clamshells in community recycling collection programs Unlocking new supplies of rPET for packaging manufacturers Strengthening recycling systems for pigmented and opaque PET While eliminating unnecessary usage is an important component of circularity, increased PET recycling is another critical step in advancing circularity, states the Coalition. This along with company commitments and recycled content mandates in proposed U.S. legislation is leading to skyrocketing demand for rPET but supply is currently limited. Most Americans with recycling access are able to recycle PET bottles; however, just 54% can recycle other types of PET packaging like plastic egg cartons and fruit containers. Furthermore, the recycling rate for PET bottles was only 26.6% in 2021. While most PET never makes it into the recycling bin due to insufficient access and participation, as much as 17% of bottles that are recovered are lost at Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) due to sortation challenges. The PET Recycling Coalition will make grants to recycling facilities for sorting equipment and related capital needs. These upgrades are intended to improve PET bottle capture, deliver more rPET for use back into bottles and thermoforms, increase the acceptance of non-bottle rigid items in community recycling programs, and strengthen recycling opportunities for pigmented and opaque PET. Through grants, technical assistance, and knowledge sharing, the Coalition envisions a thriving PET recycling system that captures significantly more material, enabling more circular PET packaging with increased amounts of recycled content. The PET Recycling Coalition is part of The Recycling Partnership’s Pathway to Circularity Initiative and aims to advance the circularity of all packaging. The Coalition is supported by and open to members representing all segments of the material’s value chain, including founding steering committee members Eastman, Indorama Ventures, Procter & Gamble, and the Walmart Foundation. Additional founding members include The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, and Niagara Bottling. The Coalition set an initial funding target of $25 million over five years and is seeking additional supporters. The PET Recycling Coalition is aided by an advisory committee of industry leaders, including the American Beverage Association, Association of Plastic Recyclers, Closed Loop Partners, Foodservice Packaging Institute, National Association for PET Container Resources, and RRS. www.recyclingpartnership.org New French recycling technology to recycle 50 million PET food trays per year Thai-based Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) with its facility Wellman France Recycling in Verdun, has been working on the PET trays recycling for six years and through an ongoing project with Valorplast and supported by Citeo. The project has the objective to develop and validate recycling for monolayer and multilayer PET trays. Valorplast has collected significant quantities of post-consumer PET trays and several industrial runs have been conducted by Wellman. The produced flakes are being tested by several actors to develop high quality applications. Those tests have led by IVL to develop a commercially feasible recycling solution for monolayer PET trays with the collaboration of Klöckner Pentaplast. The new technology is processing monolayer PET trays used for food packaging (meat, produce and cheese) into a high-quality product, suitable for new tray production. This new recycling innovation will see over 50 million post-consumer PET trays diverted away from landfill or incineration. “PET trays are essential to combat food waste. Their high barrier properties protect food for longer meaning fresh and safe food for all of us.” François Lagrue, Head of Operations – Europe, Indorama Ventures Recycling Group said. “This new technology will mean that for the first time we have a circular recycling solution for PET tray packaging. This will lend significant support in achieving the EU’s plastic collection and recycling targets. This is a true value circle effort. Tests were performed at all levels, including sorting, recycling and conversion. Ensuring the input met the right quality and purity levels is our top priority. Development of tray recycling has been a goal for some time. We are proud that – together with our partners – we have been able to develop a commercially and technically feasible process, that allows us to produce a dedicated rPET flake product for the food packaging market.” Testing has now moved into commercial production. 500t of PET trays are now being processed monthly and transformed into a high-quality tray flake, which can be used to produce new trays. The purity of the flakes is comparable with high-quality bottle flake, claims the company. A further scale up is foreseen, and the company plans to process 10KT of tray flake in 2022. www.indoramaventures.com
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