US PET recycling rate dropped marginally in 2015, says annual study report

ALBANY (Scrap Monster): The recent report released jointly by the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) and the Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR) states that the US PET recycling rates have dropped marginally from 31% in 2014 to 30.1% in 2015. According to the report titled “Report on Postconsumer PET Container Recycling Activity in 2015”, the PET bottle collection volumes declined during the year, whereas the volume of PET bottles available for recycling increased.

In 2015, approximately 5,971 million pounds of PET bottles were sold into the marketplace in the US. About 30.1 percent of those were collected through recycling programs and sold, either to domestic or foreign markets. The total weight of postconsumer PET bottles collected for recycling in the US and sold to recycling markets in the US during the year was 1,797 million pounds. The drop in collection volumes is primarily attributed to decline in Pet collected at curbside. The PET collected through California CRV program increased, whereas the collection through other state deposit programs registered declines. The total weight of PET bottles and jars available for recycling in the country was 5,971 million pounds in 2015, higher by 2% when matched with 2014.

The PET thermoforms collected for recycling in the US and Canada dropped considerably from over 100 million pounds in 2014 to as low as 88.5 million pounds in 2015. The volume of exported thermoforms witnessed sharp decline during the year.

The total bottles purchased by US reclaimers dropped by 1.8% from the previous year to 1,373 million pounds. The purchases by US reclaimers accounted for 76% of all US bottles collected, dropping marginally when matched with 77% in 2014. The imports of postconsumer bottles or dirty flake decreased significantly from 177 million pounds in 2014 to 82 million pounds in 2015. The major import sources of dirty flake continued to be Canada, Mexico and Central and South America. The purchase of US bottles by reclaimers outside the US totaled 424 million pounds. Among them, Canadian reclaimers purchased 75 million pounds, rising significantly from 45 million pounds purchased during 2014. The reclaimers from the Far East accounted for purchases totaling 335 million pounds.

At the beginning of 2015, there were 27 PET reclamation plants in operation in the US. The combined capacity of all these plants totaled 2,385 million pounds. By end-2015, the total number of plants in operation reached 28. The annual capacity of plants registered increase of 110 million pounds to 2,495 million pounds. Also, the US reclaimer plant utilization rate dropped considerably from 70% in 2014 to approximately 62% in 2015.

The NAPCOR-APR report states that US PET bottle bales witnessed dramatic drop in prices in 2015. The prices declined steadily during the year to touch lows of $0.5 to $0.9 per pound towards end-2015. The base pricing for Grade A California baled PET material dropped from $0.18 to $0.20 per pound during the first half of the year to as low as $0.15 per pound towards the end of the year.

This is the 21^st year that NAPCOR has produced the report. Also, this is the eleventh report produced jointly by NAPCOR and APR.