PET Bottle Polymers -EU beverage bottles: 24% recycled content, progress towards circularity, but more work for 2025 targets 01-04-2024

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Veolia calls on government to escalate Plastic Packaging Tax

Veolia urges the government to ramp up the Plastic Packaging Tax, aiming to boost the market for recycled materials, instill investor confidence, and spur eco-friendly economic development. With a £1.1 billion investment required for ten new plastic sorting and 30 reprocessing facilities, Veolia, in collaboration with WRAP, scrutinized the tax’s effects.

Despite the tax, set at £217.85 per tonne from April 1, 2024, for plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content, only 22% of plastic packaging materials originate from recycled sources, Veolia noted.

By increasing the tax, Veolia aims to stimulate demand for recycled content, aligning with consumer preferences for sustainability.PET Bottle Polymers

Based on YouGov’s February 2024 survey showing strong public support for more recycled packaging, Veolia’s “Resource the Future” report suggests elevating the tax to 35% recycled content and £275 per tonne initially, reaching 50% and £500 per tonne by 2030. This move necessitates a £1.1 billion investment, creating 2,500 jobs and reducing annual carbon emissions by 1.8 million tonnes.

Veolia emphasizes the importance of adapting the tax to maintain competitiveness with EU standards, where mandatory recycled content targets are set to hit 65% by 2040. Gavin Graveson, Veolia’s Senior Executive Vice President, Northern Europe Zone, underscores the need for recalibration to foster a sustainable market, advocating for swift action to unlock private investment, job creation, and carbon reduction. PET Bottle Polymers

EU beverage bottles: 24% recycled content, progress towards circularity, but more work for 2025 targets

The average recycled content in beverage bottles across the EU has reached 24 percent, marking progress towards circularity, but further efforts are necessary to meet the 2025 EU targets. In 2022, PET collection and recycling surged ahead of the new EU Single-Use Plastic Directive objectives.

Despite uncertainties, the latest PET Market in Europe report reveals significant advancements, yet discrepancies in PET collection, sorting, and recycling persist across Europe, posing challenges to EU recycling goals in the medium and long term.

PET collection rates soared to 60 percent in 2022, up from 45 percent in 2020, with a staggering 75 percent of PET beverage bottles sorted for recycling, compared to 61 percent in 2020. PET Bottle Polymers

This growth is expected to continue, driven by the expanded adoption of deposit-return systems throughout Europe. Additionally, nearly 2.7 million tonnes of PET waste were sorted for recycling, with a total installed recycling capacity of around 3 million tonnes, including 1.4 million tonnes earmarked for food contact applications.

In 2022, packaging, particularly bottle-to-bottle recycling, dominated rPET end-use, comprising 48 percent, while 25 percent was utilized in sheets (trays), and the remainder in non-packaging applications like polyester fibers (15 percent), strapping (six percent), and others (six percent).

To achieve true circularity, the EU must address discrepancies among member states in collection, recycling, and uptake, as some risk missing 2025 targets without sustained investment. PET Bottle Polymers

Tailored actions are necessary per member state to enhance waste collection, recycling infrastructure, and meet set targets, alongside implementing the SUPD and further investing in waste management and recycling sectors to uphold EU industry competitiveness.

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