Petcore Europe’s annual conference 2025 will take place in Brussels on 4-5 February. President Antonello Ciotti sat down with us to explain what they have planned.
Petcore’s annual conference is now in its 31st year. What is the secret to its ongoing success?
Our conference is unique as it brings together stakeholders from across the PET value chain - from polymer and machine producers to recyclers and brand owners. With a growing membership - including a new group focused on PET textiles - we offer a global perspective and networking opportunities for industry professionals. Our 2024 conference was the largest ever, with more than 330 delegates. So we have a lot to live up to!
Because it takes place at the start of the year the conference sets the tone for the months ahead - particularly with major regulatory developments such as the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) which is still awaiting the definition of the Delegated Acts . Holding it in Brussels, at the heart of the EU, means we have the chance to dialogue with delegates and speakers from the EU institutions and to demonstrate to them how our sector is responding to various regulatory challenges.
I understand that the Innovation Session will take place once again in 2025. What are you hoping to see this year?
The Innovation Session will showcase the latest developments and solutions taking place across the sector and highlight how we are driving innovation to meet the recommendations of Professor Draghi’s report on regaining competitiveness in Europe.
It provides a platform for different players to present their latest advancements and this year we are particularly interested to highlight projects that facilitate the implementation of PET circularity. We want to show policymakers the vast potential of PET across production and recycling and demonstrate how emerging technologies are helping us adapt to societal needs.
Innovation is a key driver for Petcore and we work closely alongside two innovation evaluation platforms - one for bottles and one for trays - in lending our support. The European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP) and the Trays Circularity Evaluation Platform (TCEP) both fully support a circular economy for the European PET value chain by providing design guidelines for PET bottle and tray recyclability and circularity. They evaluate packaging solutions and technologies and facilitate understanding of the effects of new PET bottle and tray innovations on recycling processes.
So what is next for packaging and packaging waste regulation under the new 2024-2029 European Commission?
Fortunately, when it comes to packaging regulation, the PET industry has been ahead of the curve. The Single Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) meant that PET packaging already had set targets for recyclable and recycled content back in 2019. And I am happy to say that these have proven to be achievable.
The challenge now is how the new PPWR regulations will be implemented across the 27 EU member states - particularly when it comes to calculating recycling rates and reuse targets. How to harmonise the SUPD and PPWR as they enter into force during the coming years will also be an important area of focus.
I am concerned as to how our industry is going to be able to protect itself from the greenwashing of producers from outside of the EU who seek to place their products on the EU market. Over the past 20 years Europe’s PET value chain has taken significant steps to ensure its products meet the highest levels of food safety. We will need controls and systems to verify recycled content claims if we are to ensure a level playing field and protect the competitiveness of our sector.
Looking to the future, what are Petcore’s priorities for the year ahead?
Aside from navigating ongoing regulation, advocacy remains a major part of our work and we have set up a new group to tackle this. Our members are very much involved in all of our working groups and bring a great deal of value and strength to our activities.
With a new European Parliament and Commission, it is crucial that we introduce the new stakeholders to the value of PET and demonstrate what our sector has achieved to date in delivering circularity. We are ready to take up our responsibility but need clear regulatory guidelines - especially in areas such as chemical recycling which presents a significant opportunity. This depolymerization recycling, as it is also known, is necessary to recycle PET textiles, but we need assurances that making the investment now will not be a waste of time and money in the future.
Increasing the circularity of PET trays alongside bottles is also a priority. We are actively showcasing this to the EU institutions and held a successful Thermoforms conference in Granada last summer to highlight tray circularity. It followed the inaugural conference held in Bologna the previous year. Petcore is also recognised as leading the Functional Barrier Working Group - a consortium of thermoforming companies which is working tirelessly to get recognition for the full circularity of trays within the EU Institutions.
In short, our Petcore mission remains unchanged: to represent, and be the voice of the entire PET value chain in Europe and promote market growth by showcasing PET’s unique characteristics to legislators, brand owners and consumers alike.
