Plastic Bottle Recycling in the U.S. Stays Flat in 2015

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage):Plastic bottle recycling held nearly steady in 2015, with a slight decrease of 0.5 percent from 2014, according to figures released jointly by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC). The 26th annual National Post-Consumer Plastics Bottle Recycling Report indicates the overall recycling rate for plastic bottles for the year was 31.1 percent, down slightly from 31.7 percent the previous year.

Since 2010 plastic bottle recycling has grown by nearly 400 million pounds, increasing on average by nearly 80 million pounds per year, or 2.9 percent annually. Following 25 consecutive years of growth, several factors contributed to the recent plateau, including a drop in material collected available for recycling, reduced exports and increased contamination of recyclables. In addition, the use of plastic bottles in packaging applications continued to expand but was offset by lightweighting and increased use of concentrates with smaller, lighter bottles.

In 2015, polyethylene terephthalate (PET, #1) recycling decreased by 15 million pounds. The collection of high density polyethylene (HDPE, #2) bottles, which includes bottles for milk, household cleaners and detergents, dipped slightly (0.4 percent or 4.8 million pounds), but overall held steady at just over 1.1 billion pounds for the year. The recycling rate for HDPE bottles slipped (0.4 percent) to 34.4 percent.

Domestic processing of recycled HDPE continued to grow for the fifth consecutive year. Domestic reclaimers processed more than 1 billion pounds in 2015, an increase of 4.4 percent. Total domestic capacity to process postconsumer HDPE grew to 1.46 billion pounds with reclaimers continuing to use assets to process non-bottle HDPE and PP. Exports of HDPE fell 16 percent to 184 million pounds while imports rose by 25 percent to nearly 66 million pounds. Given steady domestic collection, these trends resulted in U.S. reclamation plants purchasing nearly 44 million pounds in additional material. Domestic reclaimers purchased more than 1 billion pounds of postconsumer HDPE for the year. “The plastics recycling industry has a history of growth that spans a quarter century and has weathered many factors,” said Steve Alexander, executive director of APR. “As a result of expanded infrastructure and demand, this industry remains well positioned for long-term growth.”

Courtesy: This article originally ran in the December 2016 issue of Waste Advantage Magazine. View