German supermarkets Lidl and Kaufland move to 100% R-PET bottles

LONDON (ICIS)–German supermarkets Lidl and Kaufland’s own-branded non-reusable bottles are now made from 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET), removing 48,000 tonnes of new plastic from the market.

The change took place in June, when the supermarkets’ bottle producer Schwarz Produktion made the transition to recycled material, most likely obtained via deposit return schemes (DRS) operating in stores across Germany.

The change means around 60 of Lidl’s own brands, and 50 of Kaufland’s, will now be made from recycled material.

Sources in the European R-PET market greeted the news with caution, however, as the move to 100% R-PET means there will be less virgin PET bottles entering the recycling stream.

PET bottles can only be recycled a certain number of times back into food-contact bottles before they lose their tensile strength, at which point they would need to be down-cycled or disposed of.

With a growing trend for fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) companies and larger beverage brands in particular to aim for 100% R-PET content, this could start to present a problem in the future if the amount of virgin material entering the recycled market drops.

2021 has already seen extreme tightness in the European post-consumer bottle (PCB) sector caused by reduced social mobility because of lockdowns. PCBs are the feedstock for the European R-PET market.

Front page picture source: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

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