Table of Contents
How rPET Is Made
rPET starts as post-consumer waste. Most of it comes from beverage bottles and food containers that enter the recycling stream through curbside collection or bottle return programs.
The recycling process starts with sorting. PET bottles and containers are separated from other plastics, usually by resin identification code (#1). The sorted PET is washed, shredded into flakes, and then either melted into pellets for mechanical recycling or broken down to its chemical building blocks through depolymerization. The output is new PET sheet or resin that can be formed into packaging again.
There is an important distinction between the two methods:
| Mechanical Recycling | Chemical Recycling | |
|---|---|---|
| Process | Grinds and remelts plastic flakes into new pellets | Breaks plastic down to monomer level and rebuilds |
| Clarity | Slight reduction at higher PCR percentages | Near-virgin clarity |
| Impact strength | Can decrease with repeated cycles | Comparable to virgin PET |
| Cost | Lower | Higher |
| Best for | Standard food containers, trays, clamshells | Applications where visual clarity is critical |
Both methods are commercially viable for food packaging, and both are used in our production.
rPET vs. Recovered PET
The “R” in rPET sometimes causes confusion. In some contexts, it refers to recovered PET, which is clean manufacturing scrap (trimmings and off-cuts from the production line) that gets reground and fed back into extrusion. This is not the same as post-consumer recycled PET. Recovered PET never left the factory. It was never used by a consumer.
Both have value in reducing waste, but when buyers ask about rPET content in food packaging, they are almost always asking about post-consumer recycled content, and that is what certifications like SCS and GRS verify.
Why rPET Matters for Food Packaging
As recently as 2020 or 2021, rPET was a nice-to-have. A sustainability bullet point on a supplier’s brochure. By 2026, it is a procurement requirement for most major supermarket chains and food brands. With food packaging waste accounting for nearly half of all plastic waste generated in the US, the pressure to use recycled materials has moved from voluntary to mandatory. The shift was driven by three things at once:
Legislation:
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws now exist or are in development across the EU, UK, Canada, Australia, and multiple US states including California. These laws make the brand owner financially responsible for the end-of-life cost of their packaging. Packaging made with recycled content typically incurs lower EPR fees. For large food brands running millions of units per year, the fee difference adds up.
Retailer mandates:
Major grocery chains are setting their own recycled content targets, sometimes ahead of legislation. A supermarket buyer evaluating two equivalent containers will choose the one with verified rPET content because it helps the retailer meet its own public sustainability commitments.
Consumer expectation:
Shoppers increasingly look for recycled content claims on packaging. Whether that translates directly to purchase decisions is debatable, but retailers believe it does, and they are the ones writing the procurement specs.
Is rPET More Expensive Than Virgin PET?
Yes, but the gap has been narrowing. In 2020, rPET carried a 35-45% premium over virgin PET. By 2025, that premium had dropped to around 15-30% depending on grade and region, as recycling infrastructure scaled up and collection rates improved.
The price relationship between the two materials is tied to oil. Virgin PET is made from petrochemicals, so when crude oil prices drop, virgin PET gets cheaper and the gap widens. When oil prices rise, as they have during periods of geopolitical instability, virgin PET costs more and rPET becomes comparatively more attractive. In Europe, the gap widened again in 2025 as low oil prices pushed virgin PET down to around €1,000 per tonne while rPET remained near €1,800, driven by higher collection and reprocessing costs.
But material price per kilogram is not the full picture. EPR fees on virgin plastic packaging are rising across regulated markets. The UK’s Plastic Packaging Tax charges £217.85 per tonne on packaging with less than 10% recycled content. Similar schemes are expanding across the EU and individual US states. Retailers offering preferential terms to suppliers who meet recycled content targets create additional indirect value. And reputational risk cuts both ways: a brand caught making unverified sustainability claims faces a cost that no material savings can offset.
The practical answer for most buyers is to start at a lower PCR percentage and increase over time as pricing, supply, and their own sustainability roadmap allows. That is why SPI offers rPET at 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 100% rather than a single fixed option.
Can rPET Be Used in Food Contact Packaging?
Yes. Post-consumer recycled PET is approved for direct food contact in the US, EU, and most other major markets, provided the recycling process meets specific decontamination standards.
In the US, the FDA evaluates recycling processes through its no-objection letter system. A recycler submits data showing that their process removes contaminants to levels considered safe for food contact. The FDA reviews and issues a letter confirming no objection to the use of that specific recycled output in food packaging.
The EU has gone further. Under Regulation (EU) 2022/1616, all recycling processes producing food-contact recycled plastic must be individually authorized by EFSA and registered in a public database. This is one of the most rigorous food-contact recycling frameworks in the world. Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare maintains its own approval process for recycled plastics in food contact applications, and Australia’s FSANZ aligns closely with international standards.
There is still a common misconception that PCR plastics cannot be used in food packaging. That was true in some jurisdictions years ago, but the regulatory landscape has changed significantly. Today, food-grade rPET from approved recycling processes is widely used by major food brands and supermarket chains globally.
The key distinction is that not all recycled PET qualifies for food contact. The recycling process itself must be approved, not just the material. This is why sourcing rPET from certified suppliers matters. SPI’s rPET materials are tested and approved for direct food contact across multiple jurisdictions.
How to Verify rPET Claims
Any supplier can say their packaging contains recycled content. The question is whether they can prove it. Third-party certification exists specifically to close that gap, and buyers who skip this step risk greenwashing exposure.
SCS Recycled Content Certification
SCS Global Services audits and verifies the percentage of post-consumer and post-industrial recycled content in a product. The certification covers the full chain from recycled material input to finished packaging output. SPI holds SCS certification for 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 100% PCR rPET content.
Global Recycled Standard (GRS)
GRS tracks recycled content through the entire supply chain, from collection to final product. It is managed by the Textile Exchange but applies to all recycled materials, including plastics. GRS certification confirms that the claimed recycled content percentage is accurate and that the supply chain is auditable. SPI is GRS certified for its PCR PET products.
ISCC PLUS
ISCC PLUS covers materials that go beyond traditional mechanical recycling. This includes chemically recycled rPET and bio-based plastics like Bio-PP. The certification uses mass balance accounting, meaning the volume of certified material entering production is tracked and matched to what is claimed on the finished product. SPI holds ISCC PLUS certification covering both chemically recycled rPET and Bio-PP derived from non-edible plant feedstock.
What to Ask Your Supplier
If a supplier claims recycled content in their food packaging, ask these three questions:
- Which certification body verified the claim?
- What specific PCR percentage is certified?
- Can they provide the certificate?
If the answer to any of those is vague, the claim may not hold up under scrutiny from your customers or regulators.
rPET in Practice: What SPI Offers
SPI has been manufacturing thermoformed food packaging since 1983. Our rPET capability is not a recent addition to check a sustainability box. It is built into our production infrastructure.
We offer food packaging with PCR rPET content at 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 100%, depending on the application and buyer requirements. All percentages are certified by SCS Global Services and verified under the Global Recycled Standard.
Through our ISCC PLUS certification, we also supply chemically recycled rPET, which delivers near-virgin clarity and performance, and Bio-PP made from non-edible plant-derived feedstock. Both are tracked through mass balance accounting.
Our respire product line is built entirely around recycled PET. Every container in the respire range uses post-consumer recycled material and is itself 100% recyclable at end of life.
Because we control sheet extrusion and thermoforming in-house, we can adjust PCR content percentage, material thickness, and container design without relying on external sheet suppliers. We also recover and regrind production trimmings back into our extrusion line, so manufacturing scrap stays in our facility rather than entering a waste stream. Buyers who need to increase recycled content over time can scale with us rather than switching manufacturers.
All rPET food packaging from SPI is produced in our BRCGS Grade A, HACCP, and ISO certified facility, with full quality control and inspection at every stage of production.