- PET bottles recycled at 93.5%, one-way deposit PET bottles recycled at 97.9%
- PET industry committed to sustainability with percentage of recycled PET increase to 26% despite price development
Bottle deposits have ensured consistently high recycling rates for PET bottles in Germany according to a new 2015 study on the usage and recycling rates of PET beverage bottles in Germany. PET bottles are recycled at a total of about 93.5 percent, while one-way deposit PET bottles have reached a whole 97.9 percent. The industry is also continuing on its aim of supplying more recycled PET into the materials cycle, with the average share of recycled PET in bottle production increasing compared to 2013 despite the adverse price development in recycled compared to virgin PET. The recycling process largely takes place in Germany.
“PET bottles take the lion’s share in recycling rates compared to other forms of packaging,” says Dr. Isabell Schmidt, director of the Forum PET within IK Kunststoffverpackungen plastic packaging that commissioned the study. In particular, one-way deposit PET bottles increased slightly on what was already a very high recycling rate of 97.2 percent as calculated in the first edition of the 2013 study, reaching a rate of 97.9 percent in 2015.
High return rate keeps materials cycle going
Forum PET explains this development with deposits placed on disposable bottles. “Consumers keep the material cycle running at a high level by returning bottles, much to the benefit of the environment,” says Schmidt. The recycling system deals with 98.8 percent of deposit bottles according to the study, most of which customers return via reverse vending machine. With this in mind, Forum PET endorses continuance with the deposit system. On average, 95.7 percent of all PET bottles are collected separate – the remainder is disposed of in the household waste for conversion into energy.
