Industry commitments to recycle more plastic waste in the EU by 2025 are one thing. But these ambitions will likely be out of reach without making significant investments in recycling and enacting regulatory mechanisms by way of support. An analysis of PET flows conducted by researchers at ETH Zurich University published in the June issue of the journal "Resources, Conservation and Recycling" found that even widespread adoption of beverage bottle deposit return systems (DRSs) will not ensure the availability of rPET for bottle production at a price that packaging producers are willing to pay.
In their article, entitled "Why pledges alone will not get plastics recycled: Comparing recyclate production and anticipated demand", researchers Catharina Bening and Sebastian Kahlert from the ETH put the spotlight on PET with a focus on packaging. The EU Circular Plastics Alliance (CPA) contained much more comprehensive pledges than the EU’s target of 25 per cent recycled PET in beverage packaging starting in 2025. However, it was unlikely that these goals could be met by 2025. Even a Europe-wide deposit return system (DRS) for beverage PET bottles would not solve the problem. Trays, films and other PET packaging would have to undergo high-quality recycling in the future, too, the ETH team wrote....
