The European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP) has announced it is initiating an industry-wide consultation to collect stakeholder feedback on the recently developed Design for Circularity (DfC) guidelines for PET bottles.
The consultation will be open for two months, until February 15th, 2026. It marks the next strategic step for EPBP following the publication of the Circularity Protocol and the Quick Test–AIT.Circularity (Accelerated Impact Test).
The initiative says that while Design for Recycling (DfR) ensures high-quality recyclate after a single use, DfC sets a more ambitious benchmark, maintaining material quality and functionality across multiple recycling loops, consistent with EU policy expectations and industry requirements for closed-loop PET systems. The transition from DfR Guidelines towards DfC Guidelines will be presented in the Petcore Europe Annual Conference on 4th and 5th of February.
EPBP says the consultation will allow PET producers, converters, brand owners, recyclers, technology providers, and other stakeholders to review and contribute to the DfC framework prior to its finalization. Feedback will help ensure the guidelines are ‘practical, scientifically robust and aligned with operational realities’ across the value chain.
As a liaison organization to the CEN Technical Committee, as well as providing full support to the ongoing CEN standardization project, EPBP states it will also share progress with CEN on the DfC guidelines to further drive European standardization efforts and reinforce regulatory and market coherence. The platform invites industry stakeholders to provide their feedback via the consultation portal at https://www.epbp.org/design-guidelines/products.
This summer EPBP announced its Circularity Test Protocol, intended to help industry stakeholders adjust to multi-loop recycling and pursue environmental targets as incoming EU policies set minimum thresholds for rPET content. The new protocol is anticipated to meet the changing requirements of the PET industry, especially incoming deadlines for minimum recycled content, and help illuminate the value chain’s next steps.
In related news, PET recycler Enviroo and plastics recycling authority RECOUP revealed a ‘comprehensive validation’ of the PET recycling market and plans to build a PET plastic recycling plant in the North West of England. The facility aims to boost local circular economy efforts by recycling PET plastics into high-quality food-grade packaging materials.
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