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2020 PET Recycling Rate Drops, While Demand for rPET Surges

Annual report shows that while the U.S. demand in 2020 for rPET was strong, the collection of PET bottles decreased by approximately 2.3% to a recycling rate of 26.6%.

Recycling Symbol Bottles

The recently released 2020 PET Recycling Report from the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) reveals a 10% increase in end-use consumption of recycled PET in the U.S. and Canada. Says NAPCOR, this increase signals strong support of post-consumer content in brand packaging, and demonstrates the resiliency of PET’s value in recycling-minded communities—even during a pandemic.

Examining the use of rPET in specific end markets, the 2020 report positions the industry at a pivotal point where Food/Beverage and Non-Food/Beverage Bottle categories grew by 32% in total, surpassing fiber for the first time as the largest end-market user of PCR PET bottles.

In addition, over the past decade, there has been a cumulative increase in rPET consumption in U.S. and Canadian markets, climbing from 1 billion pounds in 2010 to 1.8 billion pounds in 2020.


Read article   Read how new technologies for PET enable recycled content and recycling.

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