Rigid Polyethylene Terephthalate Packaging Waste: An Investigation of Waste Composition and Its Recycling Potential in Austria

Viktoria Helene Gabriel (), Andreas Schaffernak, Manuel Pfitzner, Johann Fellner, Manfred Tacker and Silvia Apprich
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Viktoria Helene Gabriel: Institute of Packaging and Resource Management, Department Applied Life Sciences, FH Campus Wien, University of Applied Sciences, 1100 Vienna, Austria
Andreas Schaffernak: Institute of Packaging and Resource Management, Department Applied Life Sciences, FH Campus Wien, University of Applied Sciences, 1100 Vienna, Austria
Manuel Pfitzner: Institute of Packaging and Resource Management, Department Applied Life Sciences, FH Campus Wien, University of Applied Sciences, 1100 Vienna, Austria
Johann Fellner: Institute of Water Quality and Resource Management, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria
Manfred Tacker: Institute of Packaging and Resource Management, Department Applied Life Sciences, FH Campus Wien, University of Applied Sciences, 1100 Vienna, Austria
Silvia Apprich: Institute of Packaging and Resource Management, Department Applied Life Sciences, FH Campus Wien, University of Applied Sciences, 1100 Vienna, Austria

Resources, 2023, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: The need for increased recycling of plastic packaging waste (PPW) is apparent from a legal and waste management perspective and, therefore, further waste streams need to be investigated in detail in terms of their recycling potential. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) PW is already closed-loop recyclable (bottle-to-bottle recycling); however, other rigid PET PW is mainly thermally recovered. Explicit quantitative and qualitative data on rigid PET packaging waste are limited. Therefore, this study investigates the composition and packaging characteristics of rigid PET packaging waste contained in separate waste collection as well as in the mixed PET sorting stream in Austria by conducting a manual sorting analysis. Furthermore, the waste volume is projected, and the recycling potential is extrapolated according to new European recycling rate reporting formats. The results show that approximately 11% of separate collection represents rigid PET packaging waste. Most PW derives from food packaging and is transparent. Contained residues with more than 1% of the total packaging weight might negatively impact the sortability. The applicable net quantity indicator (ALR) amounts to 0.888 at the stage of sorting. The volume of rigid PET PW is extrapolated to 26–36 kt in 2020 with a high-quality recycling rate of 25%, which contributes 2.6% to the Austrian PPW recycling target of 50%.

Keywords: circular economy; polyethylene terephthalate; rigid PET packaging; plastic packaging waste; recycling rate; average loss rate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jresou:v:12:y:2023:i:11:p:128-:d:1271109

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