Plastipak Packaging has opened a PET Material Center in Verbania, Italy, producing pakPET Single Pellet Solution, a PET resin with 30% recycled content built into a single pellet. The company invested more than EUR 25m (USD 28m) in the facility, opened on 14 October 2026, which adds to its five recycling plants worldwide.
Why this mattersSupplying 30% recycled content in a single food-contact pellet lets converters meet recycled-content requirements without blending virgin and recycled resin on their own lines.
- Plastipak invested more than EUR 25m (USD 28m) in the PET Material Center in Verbania, Italy
- Opening ceremony held on 14 October 2026, attended by Italian government officials and CEO Ed Morgan
- The center produces pakPET Single Pellet Solution, a PET resin with 30% recycled content in a single pellet
- The resin is certified under EN15343 for post-consumer feedstock traceability and has food-contact approval
- Plastipak now operates five recycling facilities globally plus the new Verbania material center
- Target applications include food and beverage containers, home and personal care, pharmaceutical packaging and thermoforming
- Planned annual capacity of 143,000 tonnes at the PET materials centre
- Output can contain up to 50% recycled content
Plastipak has begun commercial rollout of O2Blox, a PET oxygen barrier technology designed to stay compatible with bottle-to-bottle PET recycling. Eckes-Granini Group is already using the technology for oxygen-sensitive products such as juice and functional beverages, with further customer projects in testing and validation.
Why this mattersA barrier layer that does not disrupt PET recycling streams could let brand owners meet EU recyclability and recycled-content rules for oxygen-sensitive products without switching packaging materials.
- O2Blox is Plastipak's new PET oxygen barrier technology aimed at products such as juice, ketchup and functional beverages.
- Eckes-Granini Group has already adopted the technology; several further customer projects are in testing and validation.
- O2Blox holds APR Design for Plastics Recyclability recognition and RecyClass Technology Approval.
- O2Blox is a finalist in the Circular Plastics category of the Sustainability Awards 2026, with winners due 11 November 2026 in Utrecht.
The National Association for PET Container Resources has published a decarbonisation roadmap for PET beverage bottles, developed with consultancy Eastern Research Group, setting out a pathway to cut life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions intensity by more than half by 2050 using existing technologies. The roadmap models total US PET industry emissions falling from about 3.3 million tonnes CO2e to 1.9 million tonnes by 2050 even as production volumes rise, driven mainly by bottle lightweighting and renewable energy adoption. Amcor, Plastipak Packaging, Indorama Ventures, Alpek Polyester, Husky Technologies, Niagara Water, Southeastern Container and Western Container took part in surveys underpinning the analysis.
Why this mattersA credible, peer-reviewed sector roadmap gives PET converters and brand owners a benchmark to defend the material against substitution by glass, metal or alternative packaging.
- Roadmap targets a 57% reduction in PET bottle life-cycle GHG emissions intensity by 2050 versus current levels.
- Total US PET industry annual emissions modelled to fall from about 3.3 million tonnes CO2e to 1.9 million tonnes by 2050.
- 16.9-ounce PET water bottle system emissions intensity could fall about 44% by 2035 versus 2023 baseline.
- Carbonated soft drink bottle systems studied could see emissions intensity cuts of roughly 35% to 43% by 2035.
- The 'cut-off' life-cycle method would show an 83% reduction using the same levers, versus 57% under the more conservative 'system expansion' method used.
- Study was funded by NAPCOR and developed by Eastern Research Group, with input from Amcor, Plastipak Packaging, Indorama Ventures, Alpek Polyester, Husky Technologies, Niagara Water, Southeastern Container and Western Container.
