PET insights

August 2025

Innovations Ahead

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Dear Readers,

Did I hear an outcry? "Disaster!!“ That's how it sounded to me as soon as the press release from drinktec organiser YONTEX landed in the industry's mailboxes on 23 July.

Every 12 years, exhibitors at the two leading trade fairs, drinktec and K, had a tough time because every 12 years the two events fell in the same year, in two consecutive months. Now the next drinktec year has been set: in 2028, both trade fairs will fall in the same year again. If drinktec now fixes the three-year cycle for the future, it will stay that way – phew!

So much for the drinktec backstage area! The focus on stage will be on the industry's strategic, technological and ecological advances. This issue of PET Insights provides initial insights.

Some industry experts also describe the state of PET recycling as a disaster. For various reasons, recycled PET is usually more expensive than virgin PET. While the industry's enormous technological and mechanical engineering innovation power is evident, poor market availability and sales concerns are leading to plant closings and production relocations. The industry has long been calling for a clear regulatory framework, believing that without binding minimum recycling quotas or CO₂ certificates, there can be no stable market for rPET.

My conclusion: What's missing isn't know-how, but determination, vision and system intelligence.

We hope you find this a inspiring read!

Dr. Otto Appel

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