United States: PET recycling rate up for second straight year

NAPCOR and APR Report Increased Rate and Record Volume of Recycled PET Containers

The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) and the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) announced at the end of 2006 a Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) recycling rate of 23.1% and a collected volume of 1.170 billion pounds for PET post consumer containers in the United States for the year ended December 31, 2005.

At 23.1%, the 2005 recycling rate is an improvement over 2004’s rate of 21.6% – which was in itself an increase over 2003 – and reflects the highest PET container collection volume to date, a 16.7% increase over 2004. The volume of PET containers available for recycling in the U.S. also grew in 2005 to 5,075 million pounds, a 9.4% increase over 2004. This growth was driven primarily by strong sales of still water and isotonic beverages.

“We are very pleased to report another increase in the PET recycling rate and in the volume of containers collected in 2005,” said Gerri Walsh, NAPCOR Chairwoman and Director, Packaging Industry Affairs, Ball Corporation. “Using recycled PET supports a more energy-efficient and sustainable manufacturing chain and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. While we are pleased to report a higher recycling rate, there is increased demand for recycled PET and we will continue our efforts to promote and encourage more recycling of PET containers to support the growing number of manufacturing applications that use recycled PET feedstock.”

Over 860 million pounds of recycled PET was used in 2005 in U.S. manufacturing applications including fiber for carpet and apparel, strapping, sheet, film, food and non-food containers.
This is the first year that NAPCOR and the APR have collaborated on this report. Bill O’Grady, Chairman of the APR and Vice President of Talco Plastics stated, “We are delighted to be working in partnership with NAPCOR on the important work of the 2005 Rate Report; the information and analyses it contains are of great benefit to our industry.”

Founded in 1987, the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) is the trade association for the PET plastic industry in the United States and Canada. NAPCOR is dedicated to the promotion of the PET package and to the recycling of post consumer PET containers. PET plastic is easily identified by the #1 code at or near the bottom the container, and is a popular package because it is lightweight, shatter-resistant, safe and recyclable. Products packaged in PET containers include soft drinks, juice, water, peanut butter, salad dressings, cosmetics, household cleaners, and tennis balls.
The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) is the national trade association representing companies who acquire, reprocess and sell the output of more than 90 percent of the post-consumer plastic processing capacity in North America. Founded in 1992, its membership includes independent recycling companies of all sizes, processing numerous resins. APR strongly advocates the recycling of all post consumer plastic packaging.

More information about these two trade organizations and the full “2005 Report on Post Consumer PET Container Recycling Activity” can be found on the NAPCOR and APR web sites, www.napcor.com and www.plasticsrecycling.org.

NAPCOR, Sonoma, California

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