Record amounts of PET and HDPE bottles recycled in 2008

Americans increased the total pounds of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic bottles they recycled by 75 million lb in 2008, pushing to a record total of more than 2.4 billion lb for the year. The potential for much greater reclamation remains, however, with the national recycling rate for such containers at only 27%. Those figures are part of a new report released jointly by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the Assn. of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR). The 19th annual National Post-Consumer Plastics Bottle Recycling Report documents continued improvement in bottle recycling, with the total pounds collected having increased every year since the industry survey began in 1990.

In 2008, the total plastic bottle recycling rate increased from 24.4% to 27.0%, with the19-year compounded annual growth rate for plastic bottle recycling at 9%. By material, PET bottles collected increased by 55 million lb, with HDPE bottles collected up by 16.1 million lb to 936.7 million lb. Polypropylene (PP) bottle recycling totaled 21.2 million lb, an increase of 21% over 2007.

The report described 2008 as the year of “perfect storms,” with a variety of factors impacting resin demand. Among these: package lightweighting meant fewer pounds of recycling-available material for the same number of bottles; the global economic crisis impacted demand for packages; and globally there was a significant drop in prices for recyclable postconsumer commodities like paper and plastic.

The sluggish demand and lightweighting resulted in a reduction of 650 million lb in the amount of virgin resin used to make bottles, with bottle production off 6.8%. In HDPE the amount of resin used to make bottles fell by 305 million lb, or 8.6%. Demand for PET used in bottles was down by 317 million lb, or 5.6%.

On the reclaim end, demand was reduced for plastics recyclers, leaving them with excessive inventory and liquidity issues. Beginning in the fall, business “virtually stopped” and prices plummeted, according to the report, with bale prices falling 70-78% in a two-month span. A drop in scrap plastic export demand further exacerbated the price drop.

In spite of economic woes, recycling overall still increased, with ACC citing greater implementation nationally of single-stream collection, where consumers don’t have to sort the waste. In general, this resulted in higher household participation and more contaminated bales of bottles.
 
In the export market, 214 million lb of U.S.-collected HDPE were exported, about 23% of the total domestic bottle material, which was unchanged from 2007. U.S. reclaimers also imported 141 million lb of postconsumer HDPE bales, about three times the amount imported in 2007. PET exports totaled 57.6% of the total bottles collected, with most bales headed to China. For PP, approximately 57% of what was collected was exported, primarily as a part of mixed resin and commingled bales. —mpweditorial@cancom.com