On 2 May 2018 experts from the PET and aerosol industry met in the Petcore Europe offices in Brussels for the first meeting of the recently launched Plastic Aerosol Recycling Special Industry Group. 

Chairman of the new group Johannes Burghaus (Procter & Gamble) and Christian Crépet (Petcore Europe) welcomed 15 participants from the entire value chain - brand owners, (aerosol) packaging designers and manufacturers, waste management organisations, etc.

This first meeting was very succesfull as the main areas of concern regarding plastic aersosol recycling could be ligned out: safety in collection/sorting/processing; yield; contamination.

The special industry group will now meet on a regular basis in order to tackle the upcoming design for recycling issues once the Aerosol Dispenser Directive (ADD) will potentially allow plastic aerosols beyond 220 ml in Europe.

Background on ADD and PET aerosols

"Currently, the capacity is restricted due to the fact that the ADD was written in a time when only brittle plastics were available. This led to the approach to treat plastics the same way as coated glass containers", explains Chairman Johannes Burghaus the background of the new SiG. "With PET we have today an ideal plastic aerosol material at hand. That is why FEA, the European Aerosol Federation, started an approach to change the ADD and allow plastic aerosols beyond 220 ml capacity."

As this will enable mass market instead of only niche production, the market volume of plastic aerosols is expected to increase. That will eventually lead to a higher amount of plastic aerosol packages in the collection, sorting and recycling systems in Europe.

Industry experts wanted

Petcore Europe is still looking for futher members to join the SiG. The input of the following industry players is especially welcome:

  • Brand Owners and Fillers
  • Waste Manufactures and Green Dot Companies
  • Sorting Companies
  • Recycling Companies
  • Bottle Suppliers
  • Valve or Injection Molding Suppliers
  • Resin Suppliers

In case you are interested to join the group or get further information please do not hesitate to send your request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..