North America's tray-recycling problem is shifting from collection alone to design, reclaiming and end-market demand.

North America recovered more PET thermoforms than ever in 2024. Yet PET thermoform processors bought less post consumer resin. That may be the clearest sign yet that collecting more trays and clamshells is only one part of closing the loop.

The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) 2024 PET Thermoform Market Analysis reports 264 million pounds of thermoforms collected for recovery in the United States and Canada, up 52% from the prior year. Meanwhile, thermoform converters purchased more than 2.05 billion pounds of PET feedstock—and virgin resin accounted for 79% of it. Post consumer recycled content fell from 18% of purchases in 2023 to 12% in 2024.

The missing loop

Food packaging represented about 79% of reported PET thermoform sales, but recycled-content use was much stronger in non-food and non-medical applications. Dedicated postconsumer thermoforms supplied less than 1% of the feedstock purchased for new thermoforms. Most recovered trays and clamshells still move through bottle-recycling streams rather than returning through a dedicated tray-to-tray system.

This creates a quality and economics problem. Reclaimers must manage food residue, labels, adhesives, non-PET look-alikes, multilayer structures and yield losses. Food-contact applications add another qualification hurdle. A bale can contain more thermoforms and still fail to produce the consistent, economical food-grade resin a sheet extruder needs.

Design choices now affect feedstock supply

The processor does not control collection, but it does influence whether the package survives sorting and reclamation. APR's PET thermoform design guidance emphasizes PET-compatible structures, detectable formats, removable labels and adhesives that release in the wash process. Large label coverage, problematic inks, incompatible polymers and components that remain attached can reduce yield or push an otherwise recyclable tray out of the preferred stream.

Those decisions can be deceptively small at the package-development stage. A label stock, lidding film, sealant or barrier layer may solve a marketing or shelf-life problem while creating a new recycling problem downstream. The right question is no longer only, 'Can we thermoform it?' It is also, 'Can a reclaimer identify it, separate it and turn it back into usable PET?'

The processor takeaway

PET thermoformers should treat recycling performance as another product specification. Validate the complete package—not just the base sheet—against current design guidance. Track PCR performance and yield by source. Work with reclaimers before changing labels, adhesives, barriers or color. And where possible, create demand for thermoform-derived resin in applications that can absorb it.

The encouraging news is that collection is accelerating, but demand from thermoform processors seems to be moving in the opposite direction. Closing that gap will require packaging design and resin purchasing to work as one process.

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