Recycled Products

A successful recycling programme does not only depend on post-consumer waste collection. It is also depends on whether the products made out of collected, reclaimed and recycled material respond to consumers’ needs, in other words if recycled products are actually bought. This is the reason why the PET industry constantly researches for reclaimed material new applications.

The table below reviews the current key outlets for reclaimed PET.

End User Markets for Recycled PET

Fibres

In 2009 40% of all recovered European PET was used to produce polyester fibres. But how does a flake turn into a fibre?

Reprocessed flakes are melted and spun into strands. It is the length and the thickness of the resulting fibre to determine which product the reclaimed material will be turned into. Fibres from 5mm to 150mm large (staple grades) are the ones most sought after. Larger diameter fibres are used to stuff anoraks, sleeping bags and soft toys. Recycled PET is also used to spin fibres of smaller diameter. These are woven into "polar" fleece fabric used for sweatshirts, jackets and scarves. Such fabrics can contain up to 100% of recycled material, and a polar fleece jacket uses 25 recycled PET bottles!

Polyester fibres are currently being engineered to provide qualities that are similar to upholstery foams. These advanced hollow "conjugated" polyester fibres can contain up to 35% recycled material.

Packaging

Egg containers and other preformed plastic boxes (such as fruit boxes) account for about 27% of total recycled PET usage.

Other recycled PET packaging applications include containers for water, soft drinks, juices, toiletries and household products. These are said to "close the recycling loop" as they allow a container to be recycled into a new container.  22% of European RPET was used to make containers (food and non-food) in 2009.

All recycled containers remain recyclable.

New Applications

The PET industry is in constant sough for new applications for reclaimed material. There are many developing markets for recovered PET:

  • Polyurethane foams can be made by thanks to polyester polyols developed from PET flakes
  • Engineered resins made from recovered PET can be injection moulded to manufacture computer and automotive parts
  • Other alternative production processes use "spunbonded" PET in the manufacture of shoe liners, webbing, and geotextiles (shoes, backpacks)

 

For more details of individual end uses for recycled PET register with the Petcore website and find them in the Document Library.  These folders are updated regularly.