The EU Commission promotes the following hierarchy in its packaging policies: REDUCE consumption, REUSE and RECYCLE. This supports the ultimate goal of the EU to be climate neutral by 2050.
Over the last decades, PET made progress to reduce weight of packaging (bottles are now significantly (50%) lighter than they used to be. PET bottles are recycled, and the recycling ratio is progressing year on year. Now, PET packaging can in some cases also play a vital role by avoiding the use of material through reuse systems. The following state of play document was developed by the PETCORE EUROPE Reuse WG to show the potential PET packaging has in terms of reuse and how reuse solutions can complement single-use recyclable packaging in a circular economy of PET in Europe. To learn more, read the full paper "Reuse - State of Play 2022".