News & Events

Out of 3.147.000 tonnes of PET bottles and containers placed in the European market in 2016, a remarkable number of 59.8% - in total 1.880.900 tonnes - were collected and thereof 1.773.200 tonnes mechanically recycled. These conclusions come from the annual PCI Wood Mackenzie PET recycle survey for West Europe in 2016, commissioned by PETCORE EUROPE. It shows that the collection rates increased by 7.4%, while the recycling rates also grew by 7.3%. In 2016, that resulted in 129.400 tonnes more collected and 120.000 tonnes more recycled PET compared to 2014.

Six European organisations from the plastics value chain have committed themselves, in cooperation with the European Commission, to launch several Circularity Platforms. They will advance the recycling of plastic products in Europe and consequently reduce littering volumes considerably.

The European Plastics Converters (EuPC), PETCORE EUROPE, the Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform (PCEP), Plastics Europe and the Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) support this joint position on the Circular Economy Package:

DEMETO: modular, scalable and high-performance DE-polymerization by MicrowavE TechnolOgy

The new European project on chemical recycling DEMETO is officially launched. DEMETO aims at enabling chemical de-polymerization of PET at industrial scale based on its microwave-based process intensification, focusing as a start on coloured bottles waste.

Paola Arlotti, Senior Marketing Manager at Equipolymers and representing CPME, was elected new PETCORE EUROPE President during the last Board Meeting in October. As interim, she took over from Roberto Bertaggia from M&G. Since 2004, Paola is working at Equipolymers in the PET commerical area.

More than 9 years have passed since the publication of the Regulation (EC) No. 282/2008 setting up the rules on the use of recycled plastic materials in food applications. To this date, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has adopted more than 140 positive scientific opinions on the safety of processes to recycle plastics for use in food contact materials. Following these opinions, the European Commission is in a position to officially authorize the evaluated processes. However, it has not taken any initiative in that direction so far.

Report from the PETCORE EUROPE Thermoforms Working Group and its public workshop

The market for PET thermoforms in Europe is continuously growing, especially since PET is displacing other materials for packaging applications. Currently, the total European Union, Switzerland and Norway market for PET thermoforms is estimated to be 1 to 1.1 million tons PET virgin and r-PET, including imports.

PETCORE EUROPE invited to its Thermoforms Workshop on 19 September 2017 in Brussels to give an update on its WG activities and the latest developments of PET thermoforms recycling in Europe. The event was organised by the PETCORE EUROPE Thermoforms Working Group, chaired by Wim Hoenderdaal from Indorama and Paolo Glerean from Aliplast, and held as a free webinar. 20 people joined the Petcore Europe team at the Brussels office, while more than 70 people joined the discussions online via the webinar.

The 2018 edition of the Plastics Recycling Show (PRS) will take place at the RAI in Amsterdam from 24 - 25 April 2018. PRS will feature a pan European exhibition and  conference stream designed specifically for the plastics recycling industry. The event will bring together key players from the plastics and recycling sectors in order to learn, network and capitalise on the business opportunities plastic recycling offers.

Why now? Until recent year's the plastics recycling industry has had a relatively low profile with more than 50% of plastics in Europe being sent to landfill every year. PRS aims to change this situation and to put more focus on pressing issues within the plastics recycling industry. 

More information: www.prseventeurope.com

On 27 September 2017, the PETCORE EUROPE ODR Working Group gathered for its 4th meeting at France Plastiques Recyclage (FPR) near Paris. Next to update presentations of all Task Forces and presentations on new developments within the industry, also a visit to the PDR plant was organised. For more information on our WG and how to join, check our WG website here.