Europe's PET sector is bracing for a raft of legislation to come before the EU parliament in the next six months that will go some way to clarifying the industry's ability to meet the targets already set by the bloc.
The measures, which are intended to enter force by 2024, include a revision of the Plastic and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) and the Reach legislation, and the introduction of a plastics tax, and these will affect the sector's performance more than will the supply-demand balances, industry association PETCore's president Antonello Ciotti said at the group's recent annual conference.
Ciotti said PET has been set specific targets by the EU and will come under stronger regulation, and this was affirmed at the event by European Commission policy officer for chemicals and plastics Laure Baillargeon. Along with an already-mandated 55pc recycling rate for plastic packaging by 2030, targeted by the PPWD, and the 30pc recycled content in bottles by 2030, the commission is considering mandatory targets on reduction of packaging waste generated per capita (weight) and recycled content. Baillargeon said the industry is on a path to the targets, although a steep acceleration is needed to meet them.
European parliament member Maria Spyraki said well-designed deposit return schemes (DRS) are a way forward for the industry, particularly given the imminence of collection rates targets for 77pc by 2025 and 90pc by 2029. But industry group Plastic Recyclers Europe's Casper van den Dungen said the central problem facing the sector is a lack of feedstock, as evidenced by rising prices. Since 2020, rPET flakes in Europe have gone from being priced at a discount to virgin material to being at premiums of around $300-400/t, and Europe has had to import to cover demand. Van den Dungen noted DRS could provide more feedstock.
The Committee of PET Manufacturers in Europe (CPME) said the 90pc collection target for PET could provide a major resource of reusable material. The targeting of PET first by the SUPD meant that it is ahead of other industries likely to fall under similar regulations, it said, and the PPWD could increase the value and quality of raw materials. The CPME's Alessandro Pirondini said a plastic tax would not be effective if it was just used to raise revenue but could be highly effective if it was used to promote collection. However, in the UK, where there is a tax of £200/t on plastic packaging with less than 30pc, producers find it easier to pay the tax rather than increase production of recycled content.
A PETcore report has concluded the sector is on course to meet the Single Use Plastic Directive (SUPD) target for recycled content of 25pc in all PET bottles by 2025 and 30pc by 2030 in all types of beverage bottles. But it said collection rates must improve for all PET to meet EU targets, particularly on trays where they are only at around 20pc.
PETcore's analysis on collection was backed by a report from Reloop Europe, which said a mandatory DRS can achieve the existing target of 90pc collection rates, or even better, which in turn can drive greater circularity. A 90pc target with mandatory DRS could reduce required vPET volumes by 4bn t by 2031, Reloop estimated, and could provide enough rPET to meet 63pc of bottle demand in the same time. This would assist the industry in meeting the target of 30pc recycled content per bottle by 2030. DRS could keep recycled material within the circular closed loops, for example bottle-to-bottle recycling, it said.
Reloop's Clarissa Morawski noted there is significant development of DRS throughout Europe, with many countries already having schemes in place. This number should reach 20 by 2025 and another 5 countries are likely to introduce DRS by 2026 based on legislative plans.
