Greener, Cleaner rPet (Recycled Pet)

Introducing rPet

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is a polymer made out of ethylene and paraxylene. Their derivatives (ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid) are made to react at high temperature and high pressure to obtain amorphous PET.

The resin is then crystallised and polymerised to increase its molecular weight and its viscosity. The resulting virgin resin is a raw material used to make packaging, among other things.

The ease with which PET can be mechanically recycled means that this is one of the most economically viable methods of dealing with PET waste.  With EU legislation driving increases in recycling rates and improved sustainability, the majority of European countries have developed collection scheme to recover recyclable items, including PET bottles.

These recyclables are sent to a sorting plant where materials are separated according to their nature. Recovered PET bottles are punctured and baled and sent to a PET recycler. Here, the bottles are pre-washed and shredded into flakes.

The flakes are washed thoroughly, then dried and stocked before being sold. The flakes - the raw material - can then be melted and manufactured into a variety of new products such a packaging or textile fibres. The use of well-sorted PET (>99% PET bottles) gives an excellent result in many recycling processes, as the technology for recycling PET is now highly reliable and very much advanced on the technology of 10 years ago.

 
DOWNLOAD PIRA
REPORT HERE (click through)