Converters queue for rPET capacity

Foodservice and retail packaging supplier Solo Cup Europe says it will be taking up to 20% of the recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) output from the newly opened Closed Loop Recycling (CLR) plant in East London.

Solo Cup joins CLR's major customers Coca-Cola and Marks & Spencer (M&S) in negotiating options. Vice president for innovation, environment and packaging Anne Sutton says: "We're going to start offering it to our food retail customers as 25% of the PET mix, and then offer it to our foodservice customers, which include Caffè Nero and Starbucks."

According to CLR, Coca-Cola has agreed an option on up to 50% of the plant's projected 11,000t/year rPET output for its bottle converter Constar, and M&S has an option on a similar volume to Solo Cup for converter Reynolds Food Packaging, with additional M&S options for other potential converters.

While Dagenham has a projected input capacity of 36,000t, CLR says the target figure for its next plant in the north west of England will be 50,000t, with a larger proportion of recycled high density polyethylene (rHDPE).