Insight Focus
The PET industry faced regulation changes in 2025. Tougher approvals, uneven state requirements and widespread recycling plant closures strained the system and highlighted the gaps in circularity. Moving into 2026, firms that pair compliance with efficiency and transparency are positioned to lead.
We hoped that 2025 would bring a bit of stability to the PET industry after all the policies, price spikes and sustainability pledges… spoiler alert: it didn’t.
This was the year our sector jumped feet-first into multitasking, juggling regulation, certification, recycled content demands and a recycling infrastructure that isn’t meeting expectations.
Regulation Accelerates as Recycling Plants Shut 2025 started off with the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) in Europe, and the year is closing with it edging from negotiation into implementation.
We’re still seeing PET as the popular kid in the material classroom—but only when all the specifics of Design for Recycling and other sustainability lessons have been learned, resulting in an increasingly complicated load of checklists, data and audits.
We’ve also seen PET food-contact approvals become a frustrating bottleneck, as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) tightened scrutiny and slowed assessments, pushing traceability and decontamination standards ever higher.
As I wrote on Czapp earlier this year, the industry’s understanding of food safety certification has gone beyond a discussion about quality and is now more of a market access issue. This means competitive pricing and great service aren’t enough, even from valued partners, as provable compliance guarantees are now required too.
The stealthy wave of recycling plant closures continued across Europe in 2025 as well. Last month’s article was met with resigned nods by industry connections on LinkedIn, as the reasons were depressingly familiar. Shared experiences of low margins, inconsistent feedstock, high energy costs and an investment climate that preferred to talk about circularity rather than finance have meant that several operators simply couldn’t keep going. The irony of the circularity paradox is shouting: “How do we hit our targets when the middle of the loop keeps shutting down?”
The same themes have been cropping up in the US in 2025, with recycled content requirements and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes that vary widely across different states bringing their own challenges.
California tightened its enforcement belt, Washington added more rules, and several East Coast states are expected to follow. National brands spent the year trying to explain to colleagues why a bottle sold in Illinois now required different compliance from one sold in Oregon.
PET Enters 2026 on Solid Footing
Despite these complications, 2025 has been a strong year for the PET industry. It’s still one of the most circular and most recycled materials, making it an accepted food and beverage packaging solution that delivers on all counts.
This year has just proved that joined-up thinking is what makes the circular economy an actual economy—one that offers commercially viable solutions to consumer demand. Regulations are one thing, but circularity only works in the real world when there’s investment, effective documentation, and consistent collaboration.
Looking ahead to 2026 for the PET industry, it’s clear that companies that combine compliance, efficiency, and transparency will be the ones with a smile on their faces in next year’s roundup. Resilience rules!
