PET bottle recycling

This article is about the recycling of PET bottles. For the recycling of plastics more generally, see Plastic recycling.
PET bottle recycling
Clockwise from top left:
  • Sorting at a material recovery facility
  • Bales of colour-sorted PET bottles
  • A reprocessing facility where used bottles are converted into clean flakes or pellets suitable for remoulding into new items
  • Recycled PET flakes
  • A water bottle made from recycled PET (bottle-to-bottle recycling)
  • A polyester bag made from recycled PET
  • A food tray made from recycled PET bearing the rPET symbol

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most common polymers in its polyester family. Its global market size was estimated to be worth US$37.25 billion in 2021. Polyethylene terephthalate is used in several applications such as; textile fibres, bottles, rigid/flexible packaging, and electronics. However, it accounts for 12% in global solid waste. This is why bottle recycling is highly encouraged and has reached its highest level in decades (33% in 2023). In 2023, the US collected 1,962 million pounds of bottles for recycling. Compared to glass bottles, the PET bottle is lightweight and has a lower carbon footprint in production and transportation. Recycling further reduces emissions. The recycled material can be put back into bottles, fibres, film, thermoformed packaging and strapping.

After collecting the bottles from landfills, they are sorted, cleaned and grinded. This grinded material is "bottle flake", which is then processed by either:

  • "Basic" or "physical" recycling. Bottle flake is melted into its new shape directly with basic changes in its physical properties.
  • "Chemical" or "advanced" recycle. Bottle flake is partially or totally depolymerized then enabling purification. The resulting oligomers or monomers are repolymerized to PET polymer, which is then processed in the same way as virgin polymer.

In either case, the resulting feedstock is known as "r-PET" or "rPET" ("recycled PET"). This recycled PET's carbon footprint is 79% lower than virgin PET's, namely 0.45 kg CO2 per kg instead of 2.5 kg C02 per kg.

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