TRADE SHOW REVIEW PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 No. 09/22 www.petpla.net 66 Petcore Europe annual conference 2022 part 1 Building up on the success of 2021 with more than 250 visitors, Petcore Europe annual conference took place in June 2022, at DoubleTree by Hilton Brussels City, Belgium. The topic of “Strategy and Trends for the Circular PET Economy” was discussed on the two days conference. The first day focused on perspectives, strategy and legislative challenges for the PET value chain. The second day was dedicated to trends in PET collection, sorting, recycling and circularity. After the opening speech by Antonello Ciotti (Chairman CPME), Christian Crepet (Petcore Europe) and Stephen Short (Petcore Europe), Mr Andy Grant, Technical Director at Eunomia Research and Consulting started with an overview of the current situation of the PET market. Andy reports that virgin PET production fell by 2.7% from 3.04mt to 3.00mt from 2018 to 2020. At the same time, the rPET production increased to 1.32mt. 70% of PET is used for the production of bottles (64% for beverages). The demand for trays has also increased, by 27% compared to 2018. Andy pointed out that over 70% of PET recycling capacity is distributed through Germany, Spain, Italy, France, UK and Ireland. He added that the recycled content in PET bottles and trays will increase. He summarised that collection and sorting must be focused on quality and that further improvements in design for recycling are needed that more rPET can be used within its own application cycle. Andy gave an outlook on depolymerisation. He told that this is still a young industry where the plants treating PET waste in Europe are at various stages of development with current input capacity of 68 kt p/a of prepared post-consumer PET flake. He explained that this technology is likely to see rapid growth over the next few years. Some of this will come from the expansion and construction of private facilities, and some will come from offering licences to use the technology. Andy closed with the statement that it can be assumed that by 2025, capacity for approximately 350 kt p/a of collected post-consumer PET flake could be available in Europe for depolymerisation processes, from which an estimated 345 kt p/a of virgin grade regenerated PET monomers or PET resin could be produced. Dr Stefan Kunerth, Technical Operations Director Western Europe at the Coca-Cola Company discussed a world without plastic waste in his lecture. He started by pointing out that by increasing the rPET content in the beverage bottles, this would be possible. Five global targets need to be considered: recyclability (100% by 2025), recycled content (50% by 2030), recycled PET (50% by 2030), collection (100% by 2030) and reducing virgin PET. The way to realise a world without waste is by closing the loop: this includes conscious design to minimise environmental impact. Likewise, collection must be increased in order to be able to recycle more efficiently, and finally, all stakeholders must be involved. Coca-Cola’s future PET bottle contains 70-80% rPET from mechanical recycling or polymer recycling. 20-30% is like-virgin material that comes from either the depolymerisation process or renewable sources. In 2030, the PET bottle will be 100% recycled or renewable. Maria Spyraki, MEP (Member of ITRE and ENVI Committees) gave an update on regulation and legislation for: Deposit for better collection and PET sorting system. Maria cited the global climate crisis and said that, according to the European Commission, circular transformation could lead to the creation of :700,000 new jobs and a 0.5% increase in EU GDP by 2030. According to the McArthur Foundation, redesigning plastic packaging could have a positive impact on the economics of recycling. She focused on the role of Deposit Refund Schemes in the circular transition in PET. The options are: well-designed and appropriate deposit refund schemes (DRS) have an impact on the circularity potential of PET. Deposit refund schemes can help facilitate waste collection, reduce littering and leakage and promote recycling, especially when combined with extended producer responsibility schemes. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes can help finance waste management and materials recovery activities. It is therefore important to advocate for the creation of a pan-European business case for EPR and DRS. Similarly, the streamlining of the criteria applied to create a stable and predictable framework is necessary. Furthermore, the pressure on manufacturers towards the circular economy should be increased and incentives must be created to raise consumer awareness for behavioral changes. This enables the implementation of the dual objectives of the Packaging Directive Waste Directive: To improve the environmental performance of packaging and to facilitate the smooth functioning of the EU internal market and thereby the free movement of packaging and packaged goods in all Member States. These measures also offer the possibility of extending the directive on single-use plastics. This includes measures to reduce (over) packaging and packaging waste, as well as measures to improve the reuse and recycling of packaging and the use of recycled content. www.petcore-europe.org
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