The cost of using virgin material is so low that turning to reclaimed PET feedstock does not make economic sense for many companies, said Professor James Clark from the Green Chemistry Network.
Even if a country has a successful system that collects and sorts plastic waste, which is certainly not yet the case in all developed markets, it is costly and time consuming to make this into new products, he added.
Couple this with the low cost of making a new container from virgin PET and there are few incentives for a company to use recycled material.
Dennis Sabourin, the executive director of US association NAPCOR that promotes the use of PET packaging, confirmed that the use of virgin materials are lower in cost, but said taxes were not the answer.
“Virgin materials are lower in cost but if you are being judged by your retailer and the consumer on your credentials then the benefits to using reclaimed material will be significant,” he said.
In addition, he said over time the cost of using virgin material is likely to go up.
Oil prices likely to go up
“If we look at the price of oil I think we can say it is likely to go up over time, and we need to continue to increase the amount of material recycled so we are ready for that,” he said.
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