News & Events

PETCORE EUROPE Launches New Digital Platform to Enhance Communication and Member Engagement.

PETCORE EUROPE is pleased to announce the launch of its new digital platform, designed to optimize communication and interaction among its members and stakeholders. This innovative tool will serve as the central hub for all engagements with the association, ensuring a more efficient and collaborative experience.

PETCORE EUROPE, has continuously represented the polyester textile (PET) value chain for over 30 years. PETCORE EUROPE’s policy recommendations have been instrumental in the realization of PETCORE EUROPE’s leading position in the circularity of PET packaging primarily through recycling. PETCORE EUROPE seeks to bring the same successful implementation of circularity for textiles. To this end, PETCORE EUROPE is publishing a position paper on the forthcoming ESPR Ecodesign for sustainable products regulation, detailing how circularity through recycling and energy performance can be optimized for polyester textiles, leading to a strong, well -functioning single market for sustainable polyester textiles in the EU. To read the full position paper, please follow the link.

We are delighted to announce the official release of the PET - specific LCA tool that:

As you know, PET or Polyethylene terephthalate, is made to be remade, and PET bottles and trays are fully recyclable and part of a circular economy. As a proud European manufacturing industry, we make and recycle PET.

Lots of people are familiar with PET - it is used for medical devices, beverage bottles, and food trays which help farmers bring fresh meat and cheese to a market. PET bottles are the most collected, sorted and recycled plastic packaging today, in practice and at scale.

PETCORE EUROPE fully supports the goal of sustainable production and consumption of plastics. Our industry recycles billion of PET bottles every year, thereby eliminating waste. Our portfolio enables circular packaging solutions that should never end up as waste – collection is key.

We should not forget that PET is a valuable material and demand for recycled PET has increased in recent years. This is because the people who make your favourite drink offer more and more recycled bottles to the public. But if we want more PET to be recycled, then it needs to be collected. Europe is a good example: in 2022, 75% of PET beverage bottles in Europe were collected for recycling. Today, an average European PET bottle has 25% recycled content. These collection and recycled numbers are not a pilot, or a single country or a CSR activity. It is the reality of the PET industry in Europe today. Please follow the link to read the full article.

EPBP strongly encourages the use of the EPBP Design for Recycling guidelines, also for PET bottles that are in contact with non-food products, such as home and personal care products, to further improve the ability to recycle PET bottles in closed loop. To access the full Press Release, please click here.

 The PET textile recycling industry can learn from the PET packaging recycling industry as it looks to scale up, with legislation and investment in collection and processing infrastructure key to increasing recycling rates, delegates at last week's Petcore Advancing Polyester Textile Circularity webinar heard.

Supportive EU legislation is imperative to increasing collection and recycling rates for PET textiles, which currently stand at 20pc and 7pc, respectively, delegates heard. Presenters called for mandatory recycled content as requirements for textiles to stimulate demand and suggested that a ban on exports of unsorted textiles from Europe would create a more stable market and keep the feedstock within Europe. And it was suggested that this should be combined with harmonised extended producer responsibility (EPR) systems to provide sufficient financial support to expand collection infrastructure.

And participants called for product design to better support the recycling industry. Transitioning to non-material fabrics rather than multilayer materials, and adopting digital marking for easy identification, could help streamline recycling processes, they said. Clear labelling regulations are also needed to ensure that materials can be easily sorted.

To access the full Press Release, please click here.

Liveo Research AG’s One-Material Blister (OMB) made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has been officially certified as recyclable by the Tray Circularity Evaluation Platform (TCEP) of Petcore Europe. This certification is recognized as the strictest and most challenging practical test for assessing the recyclability of innovative PET packaging solutions. It confirms that these blisters can be efficiently recycled within the existing European PET waste management infrastructure. In addition, extensive testing has shown that the recovered material can be reused to produce high-quality products with mechanical and optical properties that are comparable to virgin PET material.To access the full Press Release, please click here.

"Europe generates approximately 5.75 million metric tons of textile waste annually, with polyester fibers accounting for around 3.8 million mt. However, he noted a significant lack of reliable data sources on collection rates across the EU, which complicates the management of textile waste. "The packaging sector is much more established, making it easier to track how many bottles are produced and how many are collected. In contrast, he added that the textile industry faces complexities, especially with imported materials, where the exact quantities entering Europe remain unclear. " - said Christian Crépet in the interview with S&P Global. To access the full article, please click here.

Follow the latest news from PETCORE EUROPE.

This is the 3rd newsletter of 2024 featuring messages from our President and Executive Director, updates on the activities of our Working Groups, the latest on our Communications Campaign 2024 and social media, Annual Conference 2025, details on EU Policy and Regulatory Developments and many other interesting insights. To access the full newsletter, please click here. 

Cross-Sector Synergies and Circular Economy Integration:

• Material Synergies Between Packaging and Textiles: PET is a common material used in both packaging and textiles, and PETCORE EUROPE’s expertise in PET recycling creates valuable synergies between these two sectors. Technologies initially developed for recycling PET bottles are now being adapted to recycle polyester textiles, resulting in economies of scale and improved recycling efficiency.

• Circular Economy Leadership: As a key driver of the circular economy for PET packaging, PETCORE EUROPE aims to serve as a model for the textile industry, aligning with the EU Textile Strategy. The organization is well-positioned to integrate circular principles into textile manufacturing, encouraging a more sustainable and holistic approach to resource efficiency across multiple sectors. To access the full press release, please click here.

Follow the latest news from PETCORE EUROPE.

This is the second newsletter of 2024 featuring messages from our President and Executive Director, updates on the activities of our Working Groups, the latest on our Communications Campaign 2024 and social media, Annual Conference 2025, details on EU Policy and Regulatory Developments and many other interesting insights. To access the full newsletter, please click here. 

For more than 15 years, the EPBP has been instrumental in providing companies with an independent and confidential assessment on the recyclability of their bottle packaging solutions to drive PET bottle circularity. This makes it possible to evaluate innovative packaging solutions still during their R&D phase, enabling adjustments to mitigate recycling challenges.