Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)/2022 Recycling Report: NAPCOR Announces Release

The National Association for PET Container Resources (“NAPCOR”) announced the release of a document titled:

2022 PET Recycling Report (“Report”)

PET refers to polyethylene terephthalate.

The material is often used for soft drinks, fruit juices, and bottled water containers.

The NAPCOR news release states that the Report determined that the PET recycling rates held steady with:

• United States – 29%
• North America – 37.8%

The Report also found that over 50% of end market consumption for recycled PET in the United States and Canada reached over 50% for bottle markets.

Additional findings in the Report cited in the NAPCOR news release include:

• The PET recycling rate in the US was 29%, down slightly from 30.3% in 2021, and the North American (US, Canada, and Mexico) rate was 37.8%, down slightly from 38.4% in 2021.
• 2022 reports a healthy 15% growth in recycled content used in US bottles, which consumed 870 million pounds of recycled PET(“rPET”).
• Bottles continue to be the dominant end market segment for rPET, by an even more significant margin in 2022. 
• Significant increases in PET collection would be needed to match the recycled content demands of the future. To reach a widely quoted target for rPET content—25% by 2025—in all US bottles, PET recyclers would need 1.75 billion pounds of collected PET or 85% more collection than in 2022. To achieve 50% recycled content by 2030 in US bottles, 3.87 billion pounds of postconsumer PET feedstock would be required, which is more than three times the weight collected in 2022. 

The news release also noted data from what it described as PET thermoform innovation and recovery:

• The PET recycling rate in the US was 29%, down slightly from 30.3% in 2021, and the North American (US, Canada, and Mexico) rate was 37.8%, down slightly from 38.4% in 2021.
• 2022 reports a healthy 15% growth in recycled content used in US bottles, which consumed 870 million pounds of rPET.
• Bottles continue to be the dominant end market segment for rPET, by an even more significant margin in 2022.
• Significant increases in PET collection would be needed to match the recycled content demands of the future. To reach a widely quoted target for rPET content—25% by 2025—in all US bottles, PET recyclers would need 1.75 billion pounds of collected PET or 85% more collection than in 2022. To achieve 50% recycled content by 2030 in US bottles, 3.87 billion pounds of postconsumer PET feedstock would be required, which is more than three times the weight collected in 2022.

NAPCOR describes itself as the association for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic packaging industry in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

A copy of the news release can be downloaded here.