NAPCOR: North American PET Collection Remains Above Global Benchmark
Plastic Recycling | 2025-12-11 04:14:17
Despite unstable market conditions, NAPCOR reports that North America’s PET recycling ecosystem remains structurally sound.
By Paul Ploumis
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) has issued its 2024 PET Recycling Report, marking three decades of annual analysis on PET bottle recovery and system performance across the United States and Canada.
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Despite unstable market conditions, NAPCOR reports that North America’s PET recycling ecosystem remains structurally sound. Collection rates continue to outperform global benchmarks, supported by increased non-mechanical reclamation and expanded capture of alternative feedstocks.
Key trends from the 2024 report include:
• Stable Collection Strength: The U.S. PET bottle recycling rate reached 30.2 percent, above the long-term average, while North America maintained a 39.2 percent rate—surpassing the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s 30 percent “effective recycling” threshold.
• Thermoform Recovery Surge: PET thermoform recovery jumped 52 percent year over year to 264 million pounds, offsetting a drop in bottle collections.
• Higher Processing Efficiency: Reclaimer output efficiency rose to 85.2 percent, supported by growth in non-traditional feedstocks and the first full-scale year of depolymerization technologies.
• Evolving rPET Markets: Domestic rPET sales dipped 3 percent as imports reached a record share of total supply, while average rPET content in U.S. bottles held at 15.9 percent.
POLL
Which factor most directly supports NAPCOR’s finding that PET recycling remains structurally strong?
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the significance of the 2024 NAPCOR PET Recycling Report?
It marks 30 years of PET recycling analysis across the United States and Canada, providing a long-term view of system performance and collection trends.
- How does NAPCOR assess the overall structural health of the PET recycling system?
NAPCOR reports that despite volatile market conditions, the PET recycling ecosystem in North America remains structurally strong, with sustained collection rates and rising adoption of non-mechanical recycling pathways.
- What were the 2024 PET bottle recycling rates in the U.S. and North America?
U.S. PET bottle recycling rate: 30.2 percent
North America PET recycling rate: 39.2 percent, exceeding the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s 30 percent threshold for “effective recycling.”
