US PET recycling rates reach 10-year peak

22 October 2009 20:03  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling rates in 2008 were the highest in over ten years and increased by 9.8% over 2007, recycling groups said on Thursday.

More than 1.45bn lb (658,000 tonnes) of PET bottles were collected in the US in 2008, the highest PET container collection volume recorded to date, according to an annual study published by the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) and the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR).

This represented a gross recycling rate of 27% of the nearly 5.37bn lb of PET bottles on US shelves during 2008, compared with 24.6% of 5.68bn lb of bottles recycled in 2007.

NAPCOR said the increase was due in part to a smaller total amount of available post-consumer bottle plastic, but was also traced back to more than 50 new collection programmes and programme expansions.

Demand increased as expected despite lower availability of post-consumer resin in 2008 compared with 2007, NAPCOR said.

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By: Landon Feller
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