"The high inflation is also causing consumers to forgo consumption, which means that demand from packaging manufacturers is suffering. As a result, the recycling companies are currently coming under massive pressure," says Dr. Dirk Textor, Chairman of the bvse Plastics Recycling Association, describing the current situation.
An example of the tense situation is the closure of Veolia's PET recycling site in Rostock. Sales of flakes and regranulates are stagnating - Veolia can no longer operate its PET recycling plant economically on a long-term basis. Securing sales of recycled PET was not successful in cooperation with the beverage industry and/or trade, the reason given was.
“We see PET recycling as a whole in a difficult situation because bottlers and distributors of PET packaging are not fulfilling their product responsibility. A medium-term improvement in the situation is not in sight. The PET processors rely on new material and discard the recyclates,” criticizes Textor.
