European recycling has now taken a step forward with the launch of the European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP)

EPBP will offer a service to the packaging industry by assessing new PET bottle formats entering the European plastics recycling stream. It is expected that this new front end evaluation process will aid the ongoing move towards a more sustainable PET recycling industry in Europe.

The European PET Bottle Platform consists of a number of technical experts in the field of PET production, design and recycling, together they aim to provide an objective evaluation of new technologies and an independent assessment on their impact on the PET recycling processes across Europe.

EPBP includes: ABC (Alliance for plastic Beverage Containers sustainability), EPRO (European Association of Plastic Recycling & Recovery Organisations), EuPR (European Plastics Recyclers), Petcore (PET containers recycling Europe).

The main objective of the European PET Bottle Platform is to evaluate technologies / products and to allow new PET bottle innovations, while optimising the economic and environmental consequences for the European PET recycling industry. The Platform has established several test procedures in order to assess the recycling profile of new packaging technologies, such as barriers, additives, closures, labels, etc. Products that pass the tests should not experience any problems during recycling.