Plastics Recycling Update Magazine: Europe collects over half of PET

## Europe collects over half of PET


_By Editorial Staff, Resource Recycling_

The PET container collection rate in Europe hit a record high of 51 percent, according to the [latest data][1] from European Plastics Recyclers (EuPR) and Petcore.

All but three of the 27 countries in the European Union had PET collection rates over the 22.5 percent target, outlined by the Packaging Waste Directive. Furthermore, collection rates of over 70 percent are present in approximately a third of countries surveyed by the two organizations. Total PET collected by the member states was 1.75 million tons in 2011.

By contrast, the collection rate in 2010 was 48 percent, totaling 1.60 million tons of PET.

Of the material collected, half was used to manufacture containers or sheet for new packaging. Approximately 39 percent of PET collected was used in fiber applications.

The report estimates that the current processing capacity for recovered PET in Europe is approximately 2.09 million tons, which the leaves plenty of capacity to process more material. Additionally, the amount of material exported to East Asian markets fell for the third straight year.

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[1]: http://www.plasticsrecyclers.eu/docs/press%20release/071312%20%20Petcore%20and%20EuPR%20Press%20Release%20-%202011%20European%20PET%20Collection%20Statistics.pdf
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[3]: http://www.sdslogistics.com/quick-quote?src=droptrailersplastics
[4]: http://www.resource-recycling.com/images/e-newsletterimages/PRUe-news071812.html

URL: http://resource-recycling.com/node/2921