Only 18 percent of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle waste is recycled across the US value chain, note senior partners David Feber and Yasir Mirza and colleagues. At the same time, brand owners and the packaging industry are looking to increase the amount of recycled content in their products to meet sustainability commitments. There may be opportunities for packaging industry players, as increasing demand for recycled PET will outpace supply by 2030.
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A pair of bar graphs show the long-term projected demand for recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) from 2019 to 2030, by type of demand. The 3 types of demand are as follows: food and beverage; fiber; and other. The first bar graph shows the demand for rPET, in millions of pounds, among the 3 demand types. The second bar graph shows the percentage of total rPET demand represented by each of the three demand types. A line graph superimposed over the first bar chart shows the available annual supply of rPET, in millions of pounds. Given the current projection, demand of rPET will overtake supply in 2023 and will be twice the available supply by 2030, with most of the demand coming from food and beverage.
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To read the article, see “Filling the gap: Boosting supply of recycled materials for packaging,” September 5, 2023.