PCR Packaging (CONT’D FROM PAGE 37)
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pace with demand, and partly because low collection rates limit the availability of clean feedstock. When recyclate is scarce, prices stay high. When prices are high, brand own- ers look for ways to minimise their PCR exposure rather than increase it. That dynamic has contributed to many brands missing their self-imposed 2025 PCR targets. The cost gap is not fixed. It responds to investment in processing technology, to the scale of Deposit Return Systems that improve the quality of collected material, and to policy instruments such as eco-modulation that reward sustainable packaging choices across multiple criteria si- multaneously. Closed-loop systems, where packaging is collected, recycled and remanufactured within a defined local area or supply chain, are showing early evidence that traceability and cost efficiency can be achieved together. Sorting It Out Advances in sorting and processing are steadily im- proving what is possible at the mechanical recycling stage. Robotics deployed in materials recovery facilities can significantly increase the yield of clean rPET from mixed streams while reducing contamination rates, making more of the collected material usable for food-contact and other
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demanding applications. Artificial intelligence is being ap- plied to identification and sorting tasks that were previous- ly too complex or too slow to perform at commercial scale. For plastics that cannot currently be mechanically re- cycled at sufficient quality or volume, chemical recycling offers a complementary pathway. The technology con- verts mixed or contaminated plastic waste into a feedstock that can be used to produce new polymer with properties equivalent to virgin material. A February 2026 decision by the European Commission to recognise chemically recy- cled content within its PCR accounting rules for PET bot- tles removes a significant regulatory barrier to investment in this area; however, the three-year lead time required to build a chemical recycling plant means meaningful addi- tional supply is unlikely before the end of the decade. Europe accounts for the largest share of global PCR packaging consumption and is growing faster than any
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CONTINUED ON PAGE 41
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38 May 18, 2026
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