Petcycle - pioneer of the circular economy for PET beverage bottles

Petcycle is one of the pioneers in the circular economy and now has more than 20 years of experience in operating closed, sustainable material cycles for PET beverage bottles .

Petcycle Pet bottles blanks filling of recyclable materials 900 600With almost 100 percent return and 100 percent recyclability of the bottles, Petcycle is already where others want to go. The pool system also achieves top values ​​when it comes to the use of recycled material.

The proportion of recycled PET in bottle production averages 61 percent, will increase to 75 percent by the end of 2020 and is already 100 percent for individual beverage bottlers. This will further reduce Petcycle's ecological footprint.

In the Petcycle recycling system, almost all bottles are returned to the deposit system via the reusable crate. In connection with the economical use of resources, maximum energy efficiency in production, logistics and recycling as well as maximum utilization of recycled material, so-called recycled material, this results in a high level of sustainability.

Since recyclate is a valuable, scarce raw material, Petcycle does not export any PET materials, but processes the entire return in its own cycle. There is therefore almost no waste.

Petcycle disposable PET bottles returnable crate Circulatory system mineral waterThe single- use PET bottle used is light and stable, unbreakable and perfectly hygienic. That is why it is one of the most popular packaging for mineral water and soft drinks in Germany. It is the ideal bottle for on the go and at home.

Consumers appreciate the low weight, safe storage and high hygiene standards of the PET beverage bottles . The closed material cycle and the good ecological balance also meet everyone's increasingly important desire for more sustainability.

History

Founding

The three founding shareholders had the intention of establishing a controlled PET bottle circulation system for mineral water and soft drinks in reusable crates with Petcycle. The idea of ​​a functioning recycling economy for non-returnable PET bottles in returnable crates with a deposit quickly turned into a successful model.

The company, which was founded in 1999 and is based in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, currently has over 80 medium-sized companies from the beverage and packaging industry throughout Germany . They employ a total of more than 10,000 people. Petcycle GmbH has been part of the German Wells Cooperative (GDB) since July 2020.

Growth and development

In the period from 2000 to 2019, sales increased from 80 million to over 1 billion bottles. The Petcycle bottlers currently have around 30 million pool boxes in 7 different sizes on the market.

In 2005 Petcycle was a co-founder of INTERCYCLE GmbH . Their business area is the full service in the DPG deposit clearing system. In 2008 LOGICYCLE GmbH was founded, which covers other areas and services around the beverage industry; including pool management of reusable glass crates, sales of beverage trays, reusable sorting, crate grinding and development of new packaging.

System recognition corner ring

Petcycle recognized early on that it is advantageous to differentiate it from all other PET bottles on the German market. A simple and effective visual distinguishing feature was introduced back in 2002: the support ring under the mouth of all Petcycle bottles is square instead of round. In the empties control at the bottler, the Petcycle bottles can be easily distinguished visually and automatically from all other bottles that are subject to a deposit.