EuPR hits out at PET bottle waste exports

In a statement released yesterday, the association said supply of PET bottle for European recycling is too tight.

"Recycling capacity has been following the increasing trend of PET consumption and collection but the current combination of market forces has reduced the output of the European recycling plants," said EuPR.

It cites a number of factors contributing to the sector’s troubles, including unfavourable exchange rates, the ongoing trend toward’s lighter weigh bottles, the extended winter weather this year, and increased exports of collected bottles to the Far East.

"This situation is getting critical for some recycling operations as their input material is getting scarce," EuPR said in its statement.

The association is especially concerned about "leakage" of bottles to the Far East, a trend that it believes will ultimately lead to an unsustainable situation for converters, brand owners and final users.

"European collection and recycling are the fundamentals of a sustainable recycling system. Thus, long distance exports do not fit
in this concept," EuPR said.

The association also wants to see more effort being made towards harmonisation across Europe’s collection authorities. It says that today there are big differences across the continent regarding the quality and the quantity of collected materials.

EuPR claims that its members account for around 80% of European recycling capacity and process more than 5m tonnes of collected plastics a year.

Source: European Plastics Recyclers (EuPR)

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• PET bottle shortage (May 27,2010)