A collaboration project to create closed loop recycled PET bottle

DePoly, a Swiss award-winning CleanTech company which specializes in advanced recycling of PET/polyester plastics, has collaborated with PTI (Plastic Technologies Inc) a leader in sustainable plastic packaging design and development, to create a closed loop recycled PET bottle.

‍Using a mixed stream of feedstock, ranging from PET plastic packaging, polyester fibers and industrial waste, DePoly’s technology has broken down the PET and polyester back to its raw monomers, Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA).

From this virgin-grade quality PTA, PET pellets were produced. Finally, these PET pellets were processed into recycled PET bottles by injection stretch blow molding.

DePoly has collaborated with PTI to create a closed loop recycled PET bottle. 

Alongside the bottle sampling, the results of a preliminary screening analysis of non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) in DePoly rPET material indicate that the tested sample meets the overall and specific migration requirements for typical PET substances in contact with all types of food. This applies to long-term storage at room temperature and below, as well as hot fill conditions.

“For this project we really wanted to challenge ourselves, taking a mixture of different PET and polyester containing waste streams that are blended and have different additives,” said Dr. Gaetano Dedual, Senior Business Development Manager of DePoly.

“With PTI’s technical expertise, the prototyping went well and the quality and performance of the produced samples are similar to a control made from a virgin PET resin!” remarked Stéphane Morier, Director Project Management of PTI.