NAPCOR report portrays resiliency in North American PET industry

The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) has released its 2024 PET Recycling Report, the 30th annual analysis of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic recycling activity. The report provides a comprehensive look at PET bottle collection, recycling system performance and end market dynamics in the United States and Canada.

Despite what it describes in the report as ongoing market volatility, Middleton, Wisconsin-based NAPCOR says the PET industry “remains resilient” in North America, with the collection rate continuing to exceed internationally recognized benchmarks. The report claims data from 2024 show early signs of improvements in system efficiency, driven by nonmechanical PET reclamation capacity and greater recovery of alternative feedstocks.

“Our new 2024 PET Recycling Report confirms what the data have consistently shown: PET recycling in North America works, and it works at scale,” says NAPCOR Executive Director Laura Stewart. “Even amid market corrections and shifting supply dynamics, PET bottle collection continues to exceed global benchmarks, system efficiency is improving and recovery of additional PET packaging—especially thermoforms—is accelerating. These results underscore the value of continued investment in recycling infrastructure and policies that strengthen domestic feedstock supply, support innovation and ensure PET remains the leading material in the circular economy.”

Among the report’s findings, NAPCOR says the PET bottle recycling rate was 30.2 percent in 2024 a year-over-year decline from the 32.5 percent reported in 2023. However, the organization says the rate remains above the previous decade’s average of 29.5 percent.

NAPCOR reports that the North American bottle collection rate was 39.2 percent, remaining above the 30 percent threshold established by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The organization adds that PET bottle collection rates in North America have exceeded 30 percent consistently since it began tracking it in 2019.

“Despite ongoing market pressures, the 2024 PET recycling rate reflects the resilience of North America’s domestic reclaimers,” says Tom Busard, NAPCOR board chair, chief polymers and recycling officer for Plastipak Packaging Inc., and president of Clean Tech, Plastipak’s recycling affiliate. “The data also underscore the importance of strengthening domestic recycling infrastructure, expanding recovery of all PET packaging formats and ensuring policies that support reliable end markets for recycled material.”

Thermoform growth

While pounds of postconsumer PET bottles collected for recycling in the U.S. decreased by 3.9 percent compared to 2023, NAPCOR reports that total reclaimer inputs across the U.S. and Canada increased by 1 percent, supported by sharp growth in nonbottle feedstocks.

The report claims PET thermoform recovery showed a “particularly strong gain,” with 264 million pounds of PET thermoforms collected for recovery in the U.S. and Canada in 2024, a 52 percent increase from the previous year.

“These gains demonstrate continued progress in capturing PET plastic packaging beyond bottles and in expanding the circular feedstock supply,” NAPCOR says. “While the gains in PET thermoform recovery should be matched by the corresponding demand for this material as feedstock, market demand has remained inconsistent.”

System efficiency, material use

According to NAPCOR, the 2024 report also shows “significant improvements” in the PET recycling system’s efficiency. The report claims that the ratio of recovered outputs from PET reclamation in the U.S. and Canada to incoming material increased from 81.5 percent in 2023 to 85.2 percent in 2024, reflecting greater recovery and recirculation of byproducts within the reclamation system.

Additionally, the report claims U.S. and Canadian reclaimers recycled nearly four times more nontraditional feedstock—or material that is not postconsumer packaging, including byproducts from reclamation—than in 2023, driven by chemical recycling processes such as depolymerization.

End market trends

NAPCOR reports that sales of recycled PET (rPET) to U.S. and Canadian end markets declined 3 percent from 2023, while rPET imports reached an all-time high, accounting for 23 percent of total rPET supply. Bottle applications continued to dominate demand, accounting for more than 60 percent of all rPET pounds sold domestically.

The report says average rPET content in U.S. PET bottles measured 15.9 percent in 2024, remaining above the prior three-year average of 13.7 percent, despite a slight decrease from 2023 driven by increased volumes of virgin PET in the market.

The report

NAPCOR says its 2024 report is the 30th of its kind, based on survey data, interviews with market participants, import data and independent analysis by the organization. To mark the anniversary, the organization says it has issued a new design for the report, which includes data on:

• PET bottle recycling rates for North America and the U.S.;
• PET bale pricing, reclamation capacity, analysis of reclamation inputs and postconsumer PET trade;
• clean outputs of PET reclamation and clear versus nonclear rPET color analysis;
• material efficiency rate and reclamation byproducts; and
• rPET imports and end use applications

“For 30 years, NAPCOR’s PET Recycling Reports have documented the growth, resilience and evolution of the PET recycling industry, and I’ve had the privilege to be with NAPCOR throughout that entire journey,” Busard says. “What began as a small but important data exercise has become the authoritative source for understanding PET recycling in the United States. This 30th anniversary report not only reflects how far the industry has come, but also underscores why accurate, transparent data remains essential as we work to expand recycling, strengthen domestic supply and accelerate progress toward a circular economy.”