July 5, 2016 Updated 7/5/2016
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Invento Americas Inc. Invento Americas Inc. of Sheboygan, Wis., recently started production of PET beverage containers featuring an aluminum end.
A trade group that represents plastic recyclers is coming out against the PET can.
The Association of Plastic Recyclers is seeing the emergence of plastic cans with metal ends and is worried about recyclability.
“We’re seeing more and more of them and we’ve got to put a stop to it because they are contaminating the PET stream and it’s just something we can’t have,” said APR Executive Director Steve Alexander said.
“This is just a way to let folks know and draw their attention to it in a little broader fashion,” he said.
PET recyclers are already facing a tough time these days due to depressed market conditions brought on by lower virgin resin prices, which drive down recycled resin prices. And metal ends on the PET containers are a contaminant for plastics recyclers, making their job more difficult, Alexander said.
The position from APR does not cover either the TruVue plastic can developed by Sonoco Products Co. or the Klear Can developed by Milacron Holdings Corp. Both of those cans are aimed at the food market and use polypropylene with metal ends.
While Alexander said his comments are not directed at one particular company, Invento Americas Inc. of Sheboygan, Wis., recently started production of PET beverage containers featuring an aluminum end. The packaging technology was created by Invento Sp. z.oo. of Poland.
APR said it has seen media reports stating that the can is recyclable, but APR disagrees with that contention.
