PET Recycling Coalition announces second round of grants

The PET Recycling Coalition, an initiative spearheaded by The Recycling Partnership (TRP), Washington, has awarded its second round of grants aimed at bolstering the efficiency and effectiveness of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling at material recovery facilities (MRFs) and PET reclaimers.

According to TRP, this new round of grants catalyzes substantial growth in multiple areas of PET recycling, focusing on increased capture of PET bottles and containers, finding new supplies of recycled PET (rPET) and strengthening recycling systems for PET thermoforms and pigmented and opaque PET.

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The coalition has awarded five grants following an initial three grants it awarded in January. The exact dollar amounts for each grant were not disclosed.

“We’re fortunate and grateful to work with our committed group of coalition members and our growing circle of partners in the PET recycling community,” says Adam Gendell, director of materials advancement at TRP. “We’re encouraged by the quantity and quality of the opportunities we’ve found to grow PET recycling and we will continue to accelerate and scale the solutions that are needed.”

TRP says, collectively, the five grants are projected to increase PET capture by 5.1 million pounds per year, strengthen thermoform access for more than 350,000 households and increase annual reclamation capacity for 31.9 million pounds of bottles, 31.6 million pounds of thermoforms and 2.6 million pounds of pigmented/opaque PET.

The aim of awarding grants to MRFs, according to the coalition, is to focus on enabling an overall increase in the amount of PET captured and facilitating the capture of a broader variety of PET containers. Two MRFs received grants in this latest round—Balcones Resources in San Antonio, Texas, and Republic Services in Conover, North Carolina—and both are using their respective awards to install optical sorters that will be able to handle larger volumes and varieties of PET bottles and thermoforms.

TRP says Republic Services, based in Phoenix, saw an opportunity to capture more PET by replacing its existing optical sorter at the Conover site with a new one it expects will capture an additional 300,000 pounds per year of PET bottles and thermoforms.

Austin, Texas-based Balcones Resources is using its award to invest in two new optical sorters capable of detecting and sorting PET bottles and thermoforms in separate streams to improve its ability to deliver high-quality PET bales to specialized end markets. The San Antonio MRF serves approximately 500,000 households, and Balcones estimates the 12 million pounds per year of PET it expects to capture will mark a 15 percent increase compared with currently available infrastructure.

“This grant allows us to be more progressive and forward-looking in our handling of PET,” Balcones Chief Commercial Officer Joaquin Mariel says. “The coalition’s support helps us contribute a substantial amount of PET to the circular economy and has enabled the installation of technology that will open Balcones up to sorting dedicated streams of PET bottles and thermoforms.”

Three PET reclaimers also received grants, and TRP says each of the projects will “add robustness to the PET recycling landscape.”

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Direct Pack Recycling, sister company to Azusa, California-based Direct Pack Inc., has received a grant to help fund construction of its new reclamation facility in Rockingham, North Carolina, that is designed to recycle higher volumes of PET thermoforms.

British Columbia-based Merlin Plastics will use its grant to add a processing line designed exclusively for thermoforms at its facility in Delta, British Columbia, which TRP says will strengthen PET thermoform recycling in the Pacific Northwest, while Elkhart, Indiana-based Placon will use its award to fund new front-end sorting equipment it says will allow it to capture 10 percent more PET.

TRP did not say when the next round of funding would be announced.