PET Closures & rPET Masterbatches
The cap is a different polymer with a harder specification, the lowest regulatory band and the thinnest supply. A late market, not an early one.
A bottle and its cap are usually two different polymers with two different problems, and the cap is the one that gets forgotten. This page covers closures and the masterbatches that go into them, and where recycled content runs into the specification.
Why closures are their own problem
A closure is a small part with large demands. It has to seal reliably across temperature and pressure, survive torque without cracking, keep its dimensions in storage, and in many cases meet a tamper-evidence requirement. It is almost always polyethylene or polypropylene, not PET, even on a PET bottle, and since July 2024 European beverage closures must stay attached to the container under the Single-Use Plastics Directive, which added a hinge that has to survive repeated flexing.
That combination is unforgiving of variable material. A closure that fails does so in the consumer's hand, and the cost of a recall is unrelated to the value of the part.
Where recycled content sits
The packaging regulation treats a closure as part of the packaging. Under Regulation (EU) 2025/40, a closure on a contact-sensitive package falls in the 10% band for 2030 and 25% for 2040, since it is a plastic other than PET, while a closure on non-contact-sensitive packaging faces 35% and 65%. Article 7(5) also exempts any plastic part that is less than 5% of the weight of the whole packaging unit, which for a light closure on a large bottle can matter.
Food contact adds the separate gate of Regulation (EU) 2022/1616, and the practical supply of authorised food-grade recycled polyolefin is far thinner than for PET.
What a masterbatch does here
Two different jobs travel under the same word.
- Color and appearance. A closure is a brand surface, and color consistency against a recycled base that varies from batch to batch is a real formulation problem. Nexam Chemical lists ReColour Plus among the products named for recycled HDPE containers.
- Performance. Melt strength, stress crack resistance and processing stability, which are the same problems as in HDPE recycling generally, with tighter tolerances because the part is small and precisely dimensioned.
On the PET side, the company's grades are aimed at sheet, film and fiber rather than at closures: M021200 for sheets, films and thermoformed packaging and M992000 for filaments and strapping. We did not find a closure-specific product on its site.
The honest summary
Closures are where recycled content is hardest in the whole beverage package, the regulatory band is lowest, and the supply of compliant material is thinnest. That combination makes them a late market rather than an early one. Any projection that treats bottle and closure volumes as one addressable market is overstating the near term.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Article 7, including the 5% part exemption.
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1616.
- Nexam Chemical, IV enhancer for PET and rPET and Reactive Recycling, HDPE blow moulding.
Independent research, not affiliated with Nexam Chemical and not investment advice.