Recycling Partnership funding program to boost PET recovery by recyclers

National Harbor, Md. — A new program is aimed at helping PET recyclers capture more material.

The Recycling Partnership is creating a PET Recycling Coalition to help pay for technology aimed at capturing more of the PET that already comes through the doors but is lost during reprocessing.

The coalition, which has yet to officially launch, will provide matching grants for equipment like optical sorters and robotics to increase recyclers' ability to capture more of the plastic flowing through existing sortation systems that would otherwise end up in landfills, explained Adam Gendell, director of circular ventures at The Recycling Partnership.

The nonprofit group sees an opportunity for recycling facilities to make targeted investments that will help capture more of the PET that's already on their conveyor belts. Grant money will make the projects more attractive for recyclers from a return-on-investment view, Gendell said.

"It's not as though we need to build a new recycling system for them, but we need to make some tweaks because we'd like to see a system that is more elegant in sending the right kinds of PET to the right kinds of end markets," he said during a March 7 interview at the Plastics Recycling Conference in National Harbor, near Washington, D.C.

Bale quality for recyclables — and not just plastics — has suffered in recent years thanks, in part, to single-stream recycling. Single-stream recycling, where all recyclables are put into one residential collection cart, has transformed recycling over the past 25 years. Volume is much greater because residents do not have to sort their recyclables, and larger carts allow for more materials to find their way into the recycling stream. Carts also make it easier for people to bring their recyclables out to the curb.

There once was a time when there was a fierce debate about the merits of single-stream recycling vs. dual-stream, where the paper faction is kept separate, or even a bin approach that saw residents carry out multiple totes to the curb for their sorted recyclables.

Gendell sees the grant program not only increasing the PET yield from bales coming from MRFs but also helping in projects that would better separate bottles from thermoforms and clear from colored or opaque. This sortation would better homogenize each type of PET and allow it to be reused instead of ultimately being a potential contaminant in other PET streams.

"There are yield loss estimates at MRFs of 10 percent. … And yield loss at the [plastic] reclaimer can be upwards of 30 percent. So there's this kind of tragedy that we're having a hard enough time getting PET in the collection system, but when it gets in the collection system, way too much is lost," Gendell said.

Problems involving labels and adhesives, for example, can help cut PET yield once containers make it to plastic reprocessors.

"It's sad, isn't it? When I think about PET, so much of it travels such a long, arduous journey to get so close to getting recycled only to end up disposed. And it's extra unfortunate because it's a long and circuitous impact-laden trip to the landfill," he said.

"It's a tragedy but also an opportunity because the PET is getting so close to the finish line. It's getting into the system; it's just not getting into its journey. So that's the main challenge we're seeking to address," Gendell said.

The creation of the PET Recycling Coalition follows the 2020 formation of the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition by The Recycling Partnership.

The blueprint for the efforts share similarities, but the challenges are different, Gendell said.

The PET group, for example, is purposefully focusing on PET once it gets into the recycling system. That's to avoid any potential conflict with existing programs such as the American Beverage Association's Every Bottle Back recycling campaign targeting consumers. "Our goal is to be complementary to other programs," he said.

The new program hopes to begin providing grants as early as the second quarter of 2022 in an effort to take advantage of market opportunities such as brand and consumer demand for higher recycled content.

Financial backers of the new PET coalition have yet to be announced, but Sarah Dearman, vice president of circular ventures at The Recycling Partnership, pointed to the importance of having broad-based support.

Those providing funding to the existing Polypropylene Recycling Coalition include brand owners, processors, equipment makers, recyclers and resin makers.

"You will see the entire value chain represented there, which we feel is really important to make these solutions work," she said during one conference presentation.

Consulting firm Resource Recycling Services will provide technical services for the new PET group. The coalition's advisory committee will include the National Association for PET Container Recycling, the Association of Plastic Recyclers, Closed Loop Partners, the American Beverage Association and the Food Packaging Institute.