Pet markets considered.

Speakers at the BIR Plastics Roundtable, which was held in Vienna in late October, said PET bottle recycling is a modern-day success story but still faces threats.

Jan Snellenburg of Texplast GmbH, The Netherlands, said the impact of "unstable" virgin prices, "insufficient uniformity" in the interpretation of EU law and cheap labor in countries such as China threaten Europe's recycling industry.

Across the EU each year, more than 400,000 metric tons of used PET bottles are recycled into fiber, sheet/film, strapping and bottles. Consumers have accepted recycled PET as a "reliable" raw material, said Snellenburg, adding that constant technology improvements mean that reclaimers are able to produce a material "close to virgin" that can be used in food-contact applications.

Snellenburg said PET recycling would receive a further boost if the Belgian government proceeded with a proposal mandating at least 50 percent recycled-content material in new bottles. A more general move in this direction would not only increase demand for recycled PET, but would also "force producers to go back to transparent bottles," he said.

An update from the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc., Washington, D.C., suggested that Chinese demand for PET bales is continuing to underpin the market. HDPE reclaimers were feeling pressure from "softer" virgin resin prices and temporarily less robust demand from overseas buyers.

India will remain a "small" importer of plastics scrap, Surendra Kumar Borad of Gemini Corp., Belgium, said. A license is required to import and recycle plastic scrap, but only one has been issued in the previous four years. Presently, a total of 26 licensed units were importing 6,000 to 7,000 metric tons monthly.

Jacques Musa of Soulier in France observed that PET bottle prices are increasing almost daily as demand becomes stronger.

Marc Figueras of Spain said "big problems" existed for black polystyrene and HDPE. Overall, he said, it had not been a good year for Spain's plastics recyclers.

BIR Plastics Committee Chairman Peter Daalder of Daly Plastics BV in The Netherlands described exports to Asia as "fantastic," though the country is paying "crazy" prices that, in some cases, are 50 percent higher than what domestic processors can afford.

Enrico Bobbio of Polieco in Italy noted continuing problems within the country because plastic scrap is associated with waste. The plastics recycling industry had to strive to establish itself with EU regulators and to impress on international legislators the economic importance of its activities, he insisted.