Introduction
As environmental awareness grows, more and more consumers are demanding sustainable and eco-friendly products. This rising trend has led brands and manufacturers to incorporate recycled plastics into their goods. One of the most promising recycled plastics is RPET. RPET, which stands for recycled polyethylene terephthalate, is giving new life to previously discarded plastics and products.
RPET is produced from post-consumer PET, the plastic commonly used for packaging foods, beverages, and other consumer goods. Once these PET products like plastic bottles reach the end of their lifespan, they can be recycled rather than sent to landfills. The recycled PET plastic is cleaned, crushed, and processed into RPET resin pellets. This innovative recycled plastic functions just as well as new PET resin. By using RPET instead of virgin plastics, manufacturers can significantly reduce waste and lower their carbon footprint.
In this in-depth guide, we’ll explore what exactly RPET is, its benefits, and the growing use of this sustainable plastic across various industries. Read on to learn how RPET is revolutionizing recycling and creating a model for the circular economy.
What is RPET?
RPET stands for recycled polyethylene terephthalate. It is a plastic resin made from previously used PET products. PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is a commonly used type of plastic resin and is considered one of the most recyclable plastic materials.
PET plastic is lightweight, durable, non-reactive, and thermoplastic (meaning it can be melted down and reformed repeatedly). Due to these useful properties, PET is a popular plastic for packaging foods, beverages, personal care products, and other consumer goods. You likely encounter PET products daily without even realizing it. Some examples of PET plastic items include:
- Plastic beverage bottles
- Food jars and containers
- Clothing made from polyester fabrics
- Carpet fibers
- Packaging straps
- Rope
PET’s widespread use makes it one of the most highly discarded plastics as well. However, thanks to RPET, this plastic waste can be given renewed purpose. RPET utilizes discarded PET products that would otherwise end up in landfills or the environment.
How is RPET Made?
The creation of RPET begins with collecting discarded PET products and packaging, such as used soda bottles, through municipal recycling programs. These post-consumer PET materials are sorted from other recyclables at material recovery facilities. The collected PET is then cleaned to remove any food residues or chemical contaminants.
Next, the PET goes through a crushing process to break it down into smaller plastic flakes. These flakes are heated, melted, filtered, and formed into pellets. The pellets can then be used just like new PET resin pellets in the manufacturing process. They can be melted down and reformed to make a variety of new products, like clothing, packaging, automotive parts, and more.
The RPET pellets are now a raw recycled plastic material ready to be spun into fibers for fabrics or injection molded into new plastic items. With additional coloring or enhancements, manufacturers can recreate the transparency, durability, and flexibility of virgin PET plastic using 100% recycled RPET.
Benefits of RPET
Using RPET over virgin PET offers important benefits for both the environment and businesses:
Reduces Plastic Waste:
The recycling of PET bottles and containers into RPET gives new purpose to previously discarded plastics. This diverts billions of PET bottles from landfills and significantly cuts plastic waste. It is estimated that recycling one ton of PET plastic saves approximately 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space. As more brands increase their use of RPET, it will incentivize further PET recycling globally.
Lowers Carbon Footprint:
Creating RPET resin requires far less energy than producing brand new PET plastic from raw materials like petroleum. RPET’s carbon footprint can be up to 50% lower compared to virgin PET. Using RPET lessens dependence on fossil fuels and reduces the emissions released during plastic production. This makes products manufactured with RPET much more sustainable and eco-friendly.
Saves Resources:
In addition to using less energy in production, RPET also conserves water resources compared to virgin PET. The recycling process to create RPET uses 84-91% less water than manufacturing virgin PET resin. The repeated recycling of PET into RPET significantly preserves resources and enables a circular production model.
Cost Competitive:
Despite its sustainability benefits, RPET remains cost competitive with virgin PET resin. Improvements in recycling technology and increased market demand for RPET have brought its pricing down. Using RPET enables brands to meet sustainability goals without sacrificing bottom lines. As technology continues advancing, the affordability of RPET will likely improve further.
Consistent Quality:
RPET consistently matches virgin PET’s quality and can be reused in rotation without loss of performance. It offers the same durability, strength, transparency and versatility as new PET plastic. This makes it an attractive option for brands looking to incorporate recycled content without lowering quality standards.
Ideal for Food Contact:
RPET is considered safe for food contact when properly processed according to FDA standards. Its nonporous surface deters absorption of foods or liquids. RPET meets FDA regulations for use in containers, bowls, bottles, and other products that store edibles or potables.
Increasing Adoption of RPET
Due to its environmental upsides and production improvements, RPET is transitioning from a niche to a mainstream packaging choice across industries:
- Plastic Bottle Manufacturing: Bottle-to-bottle recycling allows PET bottles to be endlessly recycled into new bottles. Coca-Cola uses RPET for its PlantBottle packaging and aims for 50% recycled content by 2030.
- Textiles – Polyester clothing and fabrics made using RPET reduces plastic waste and the water footprint compared to synthetic virgin polyester. Brands like H&M, Patagonia, Levi’s and EILEEN FISHER use RPET in their apparel lines.
- Food Packaging – Hellmann’s recycles PET into its mayonnaise jars. Snack bag maker Utz uses food-grade RPET packaging to improve sustainability.
- Consumer Goods – P&G’s Head & Shoulders bottle contains 25% RPET. Unilever announced that its cleaning brands will use at least 25% recycled plastic by 2025.
- Carpeting – Shaw Floors and Tarkett use RPET in carpets and flooring to decrease their carbon impact.
- Automotive Parts – The Nissan Leaf uses RPET in interior components such as headliners, trunk trims, covers and floor mats.
With major corporations across industries contributing to the RPET movement, this recycled plastic will continue gaining market share worldwide. It provides an ethical and eco-conscious alternative to virgin plastics without reducing quality or performance.
Challenges Facing RPET Adoption
While the future looks bright for RPET, there are challenges to overcome regarding recycling infrastructure and processing techniques:
PET Recycling Rates: Global PET bottle recycling rates remain low, averaging just 20-30% according to Petcore Europe. More recovery of used PET products is needed to provide the raw materials for RPET. Investment in collection and sorting facilities is crucial.
Degradation Concerns: Critics argue that PET loses integrity with each reprocessing, making it unsuitable for repeated recycling into RPET. However, data shows rPET retains over 90% of its inherent viscosity after 5-6 processing cycles. With advanced technologies, RPET can be reused without significant drops in quality.
Separating Plastics: For the highest quality RPET, PET must be sorted from other recyclable plastics. This separation process adds complexity and cost compared to single-resin recycling streams. Improved optical sorting and chemical marking aids better separation.
Contamination: PET recycling suffers from high contamination rates, whether from improper sorting, non-recyclable components like caps, or product residues. This contamination reduces yield and quality. Better waste stream management is required.
Beverage Companies Must Lead: Beverage manufacturers account for the majority of PET usage. But only about a third of PET bottles are collected for recycling globally. Without leadership from Coke, PepsiCo and other bottled beverage giants to improve supply chains, increasing RPET usage will be difficult.
With smart investments and policy changes, these challenges are surmountable. The plastic recycling ecosystems requires continued innovation and systemic improvements to enable RPET to reach its full potential as a circular, low-impact plastic.
The Future of RPET
Despite current limitations, RPET remains one of the most promising sustainable plastics available today. As technology and recycling infrastructure continue advancing, RPET will unlock even greater possibilities for a closed-loop plastics economy.
Ongoing trends that hint at the future of RPET include:
- Improved processing techniques to enhance RPET purity, yield, and economics.
- Emerging chemical recycling via depolymerization to supplement mechanical recycling.
- Digital watermarking and blockchain to track recycled plastics across global supply chains.
- Brand commitments and legislation mandating increased recycled content.
- Closed-loop partnerships between brands and recyclers to improve RPET supply.
- Nanotechnology and polymer engineering to strengthen PET and enable perpetual recycling.
These innovations will enable RPET to move from a linear take-make-waste model to a circular system without plastic waste or leakage. This closed-loop economy is the holy grail for the future of sustainable plastics.
RPET also provides a model for recycling beyond just PET. As recycling rates for other commodity plastics such as PP, PVC, and PE improve, they too can be continuously reprocessed into high-value recycled resins. RPET represents a proof of concept for next-gen circular recycling.
Within a decade, RPET may no longer be viewed as an alternative plastic. With sufficient investments in collection and processing, combined with smart design-for-recycling choices by brands, RPET can become the standard plastic resin rather than the exception. The companies leading this transition today will gain long-term competitive advantage and consumer trust.
Adopting RPET is an actionable step any sustainability-minded business can take today to reduce plastic waste, carbon emissions, and resource consumption. With its vast potential for scaling, RPET provides a glimpse into a future where plastics retain their utility but without the environmental costs. The plastic pollution and climate crises demand no less of our creativity and commitment.
Conclusion
RPET offers a sustainable solution for giving discarded plastics renewed life in an array of products. As awareness and adoption of RPET grows, its positive impacts multiply in effect. This recyclable resin diverts plastic waste from landfills and incinerators while enabling a circular production model.
Despite current challenges, RPET remains a viable eco-friendly alternative to virgin plastics today. And future innovations promise to improve processing, quality, and economics even further. With the right systemic changes and investments, RPET could transform into the default choice over new plastic.
Businesses serious about their environmental commitments need to consider RPET as part of the solution. And consumers can play a pivotal role by choosing products made from RPET over conventional plastics. Collective awareness and advocacy helps drive the momentum toward a plastic waste-free future.
RPET alone won’t end the plastics crisis. But it provides a template for how thoughtful design, recycling infrastructure, and purpose-driven business can reinvent how we consume plastic. The time for change is now.
At Minko, we are proud to manufacture our products using sustainable RPET plastic. We believe recycled materials are the responsible choice for both people and planet. Our team is always ready to answer any questions you may have about our use of RPET or plastic sustainability in general. We hope this blog provided useful insights into how recycled plastics like RPET can make a real environmental impact. Please feel free to reach out to the Minko team at [email address] to start a conversation and learn more about our values-driven business. Let’s build a better future for plastic together.