PET recycling in India: Trends, challenges and opportunities

Technologies for B-to-B resin including chemical recycling & bio-chemical recycling

by Rajesh Kumar Gera, Packaging & Recycling Consultant

The Indian PET recycling industry had a turnover of ~ USD 560 million (~Rs 5 K Cr) in 20-21, which had increased to ~USD 900 million (Rs 8 K Cr+) in 24-25. India is proud having one of the highest PET recycling rates with 92 % and competing with the best globally. The Indian Recycling industry is consisting of both unorganised and organised recyclers. There are value-added recycled products made from rPET, and the Indian PET recycling industry is projected to grow 15-20 % p.a. in the upcoming years. It is estimated that the Indian PET recycling industry will have a turnover of ~ USD 1.1 billion (Rs 10 K crore+) in the next 2-3 years’ time. In addition to the traditional mechanical recycling, there is a growing interest in chemical and bio-chemical (enzymatic) recycling for the ‘difficult to recycle PET packaging’ and other polyester materials like textiles.

It is important to first understand the Indian PET industry and how it has grown. The PET resin consumption was 1.10 m t/a in ‘20-21 and has been growing on average 12-14 % p.a. The Indian PET resin consumption of 1.9 m t/a in 24-25 consisted of bottles: 92 %, sheet: 4 %, strapping/monofilaments: 2 % and others: 2 %. The different applications are enclosed.

Recycling industry in India

The PET bottle usage was 1.9 MMT (‘24-25) and recycled PET usage was 1.75 MMT (92%). Today there are 200 plus collection-cum-baling centres in India with an upward trend. There is surely a shift for moving away from the unorganised informal set-up to organised formal recycling setups. It is primarily ‘mechanical recycling’ of PET packs in India. There are 50+ medium-to-large scale manufacturing units using washed flakes of recycled PET.

Trends in usage of recycled PET resin in India

The use of rPET is allowed by BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) for packaging of non-food items in India. The rPET usage has been approved by FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) for use in the direct food contact end-uses in India. The major FMCG producers (both Food & Beverage and non-Food sectors) have started using rPET, and the initial target is 30% rPET in 25-26. Some of the major brand-owners are already using B-to-B PET resin for packaging of water, CSD, liquor & other products in India. The consistent availability of high quality rPET resin is the key. PET is the first material of choice, due to its ease of recyclability and the established PET recycling systems.

Challenges

One of the major challenges is traceability. One of the key differentiators in recycling ecosystem is the assurance of ‘traceability’. The move is thus towards digitalisation and block-chain/AI driven SCM (Supply Chain management) of rPET bottles. The brand-owners and regulatory bodies are now paying far more attention in this regard, and it will further improve the quality of recycled chips. The other major challenge is the availability of consistent high quality rPET material. It is being addressed by improving different steps in mechanical recycling, including both the sorting & washing processes.

Applications

The different end-uses of rPET in India include fibre fill, non-woven, POY, PSF, monofilament, bottles for food and non-food applications, sheets, strap, injection moulding, masterbatches, among others. It has more applications in non-bottle end-uses, especially the fibre industry. The polyester fibre is used as a filling material for cushions, pillows and converted to fabrics for use in clothing, upholstery. These products include T-shirts, caps, jackets, scarfs, carry bags etc. Just for instance, the Indian cricket team’s apparel is made from recycled PET bottles. Some of the other applications in India are for non-woven (for automobile, carpets, boot liner, headliner), synthetic leather, fibre filling, spun yarn and textiles. It is encouraging to note that companies like Adidas, Nike and many others make athletic merchandise from recycled polyester in India. This makes their brand ‘greener’ (circular) and it helps command a premium over their regular products. In the non-bottle area, rPET sheet usages include blister packaging of toothbrushes, battery cells, toiletries etc. both for the domestic as well as for the export markets by major brand-owners. It has been enabled by collaboration between all the stake holders including the major Indian PET raw material manufacturers, sheet suppliers, thermoformers/FFS (Form Fill Seal) companies along with the brand-owners and machinery suppliers.

Machinery

As the quality of recycled chips depends on all process steps, there is a clear shift in the Indian mindset towards high-end recycling machines for new recycling projects in India, to get further improved quality of recycled PET chips. Technical alliances both at the Indian and global level for recycling machinery are in the offing, and many machines are being made in India through foreign collaboration. Ishitva Robotic Systems Pvt. Ltd. have made some significant inroads in sorting machines for handling the mixed plastic waste including PET.

Promotion

There has been quite a spurt in installation of reverse vending machines (RVM) in the last one decade due to the concerted efforts of machinery suppliers and PET resin manufacturers. There are 1,000+ RVM machines installed all over India. The objective has been to sensitise both the public and decision makers on the need for recycling and to create awareness among decision makers about the vast recycling ecosystem existing for PET recycling in India.

Regulations

In India, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) frames standards for different packaging materials and end-uses including recycled resins. For e.g., IS 14534: 2023 covers guidelines for the recovery and recycling of plastic waste and IS 14535: 1998 is the BIS for using recycled plastics for the manufacturing of different products focusing on non-food sectors. The use of rPET in food and beverages end-uses was not allowed till recently in India.

FSSAI had come out with “draft food safety and standards packaging (amendment) regulations” for use of recycled plastics in 2022 as food contact materials based on PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) rules 2021. They have now come out with guidelines for acceptance of “recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as food contact material (FCM rPET)”. The scope of this guideline pertains only to the recycling process and operation of transforming post-consumer PET used for food applications into rPET as food contact material (FCM rPET) resins suitable for making food contact materials. It covers the acceptance criteria for using (FCM rPET) resin in food contact materials. It applies only to the recycling technology approved by FSSAI. It does not apply to production of resins for non-food grade consumer applications.

Thus, approved guidelines and acceptance criteria for use of recycled post-consumer PET for the food contact applications are also being made effective for implementation. The draft amendment regulations are in process of approval by BIS and its notification soon. The India’s regulatory landscape is evolving to support technologies for production of food contact grade rPET resins. Under the amended Plastic Waste Management rules, producers, importers, and brand owners (PIBOs) are mandated to include a minimum percentage of recycled plastic content in their packaging. For rigid plastic packaging, which includes PET bottles and containers, recycled content requirement is 30 % for FY 2025–26 and increasing up to 60 % by 2028–29. This regulatory push aligns with the capabilities of different technologies and creates a robust market demand for high-quality recycled PET for food-grade applications.

B-to-B PET resin in India

There are increasing demands on the quality of rPET recyclate. Brand owners have specific requirements for AA, benzene, and BPA contents, and there are guidelines regarding material, source, and collection systems. The capacity of recycling lines varies from 2 to 8 TPH, and the delta IV increase achieved in SSP ranges from 0.16 to 0.22 dl/g. There are a couple of manufacturers of B-to-B PET resin on a pan-India basis and many more new lines are getting commissioned in ’25 and beyond for the rPET resin suitable for direct food-contact packaging. There is a limited availability of food grade rPET resin and there is a premium for the B-to-B PET resin vs. the virgin PET resin made by the fossil route. The total installed capacity of B-to-B PET resin is expected to reach 1.1 m MT by 2030, with an estimated investment of USD 840 million (over Rs 7,500 crore) in recycling systems to produce B-to-B PET resin in India.

Technologies for rPET for food-contact packaging (B-to-B resin):

• Mechanical recycling (super-clean process)
• Melt-in recycling
• Paste-in recycling
• Chemical recycling
• Bio-chemical recycling (enzymatic recycling)

Mechanical recycling (super-clean process)

The mechanical recycling process for rPET for non-bottle uses involves sorting and washing. In B-to-B resin production, flakes further go through decontamination, SSP (Solid State polycondensation) and granulation for use in bottles for direct food contact applications. The ‘super-clean’ rPET process is the conventional recycling process, which has been enhanced with an integrated decontamination step (as specified by FSSAI or any other regulatory body) to remove absorbed contaminants through a combination of surface treatment, high heat, and/or high vacuum in a controlled environment so that the output can be used for direct food contact applications. It has multiple levels of decontamination: Pre-drying, plasticising, filtration, pelletising, crystallising, cooling, bagging. The decontamination process happens in the extruder and in SSP. The SSP process is conducted in an inert gas atmosphere.

Melt-in recycling

Virgin PET (vPET) production operation enhanced with the ability of incorporating PET flakes in the molten form. It is decontaminated through a combination of high heat and high vacuum

Paste-in recycling

Virgin PET production operation enhanced with the ability of incorporating PET flakes in the paste form, via partial glycolysis. It is equipped with an integrated system of removing absorbed contaminants via chemical distillation, vacuum degassing etc.

Chemical recycling or advanced recycling

In the long term, demand for rPET resin cannot be met by mechanical recycling alone. Interest in non-mechanical PET recycling is growing worldwide, including in India. This also includes chemical recycling. This is a chemical reaction process in which PET flakes are completely depolymerised by pyrolysis into purified ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid (or dimethyl terephthalate) or bis(2-hydroxyethyl terephthalate).

According to the guidelines of ISO 15270, the purified, depolymerised monomer can be used to produce virgin-quality polymers. The manufacturer of FCM-rPET, which uses chemical recycling processes, submits an application and the relevant documentation to the food authority (in accordance with Form 1 of the FSSAI in its guidelines for the approval of recycled PET as a food contact material FCM-rPET).

Enzymatic recycling

Enzymatic recycling is a rapidly emerging technology worldwide with great futuristic potential in India. It enables the recycling of polyester waste, most of which has not been recycled to date. All this waste could be recycled on a large scale tomorrow, so the potential of these waste materials in India is enormous. It offers the opportunity to use far more economical raw materials, as this process can utilise all types of polyester textile waste as well as those PET bottles (like coloured or multi-layered bottles), which are difficult to recycle.

The development of bio-recycling technologies to redesign the life cycle of PET plastics and polyester textiles faces the challenge of transitioning from end-of-life to end-of-cycle models.

First, it is important to understand the basic principle of enzymatic recycling. Depolymerisation technologies break down plastics such as PET into monomers (PTA and MEG) so that they can be reprocessed into new plastics (PET resin). This process breaks down molecular chains and decomposes plastics into monomers, which can be used to produce new high-quality plastics (PET) after purification.

The enzymatic depolymerisation process is promising because it uses enzymes as catalysts to break down polymers. One of the technology providers has successfully established a link between polymer science and enzymology. The process enables the enzymatic recycling of PET and produces monomers similar to those found in virgin material. It will have a high purity and consistent rPET quality, allowing direct contact with food.

Process

Enzymes are currently used in many everyday applications (detergents, biofuels, food, textiles and paper), but their use for degradation and thus enabling the recycling of plastics and textiles for industrial purposes has not been considered in the past. These enzymes have been developed to optimise polymer degradation activity. Their activity, including their thermostability, is necessary for efficient and competitive use in industrial recycling processes. These optimised enzymes are used in enzymatic recycling (for both PET packaging and textiles) and increase the composting efficiency of biodegradable plastics (PLA).
The process enables the enzymatic recycling of PET, producing monomers of new-grade quality. These are characterised by high purity and consistent rPET quality, meaning they can be used directly for contact with food. This technology has already progressed from the demonstration plant to industrial scale and is set to be introduced into commercial plants soon. The various steps of enzymatic recycling are pre-treatment (including sorting, washing, etc.), surface preparation, enzymatic depolymerisation (from polymer to monomers), filtration steps, separation of TA (terephthalic acid) and MEG (monoethylene glycol), followed by purification of TA and MEG. The result is monomers of new-like quality. These can then be repolymerised into PET of a quality equivalent to that of new PET obtained from fossil raw materials.

Indian PET recycling: Way forward!

Design for recycling is the new key to product launches in India and worldwide. Regulatory support from FSSAI and BIS will further expand the scope of rPET in India, including hard-to-recycle rPET items (for both packaging and textiles). This will help open up new avenues for everyone in the recycling ecosystem value chain. The sustainable mantra of ‘reduce and reuse’ and technologies for mechanical, B-to-B PET resin, and chemical recycling will help establish a robust ecosystem for ‘recycling and sustainability’ for all.

For the 2025-26 financial year, there is a mandatory recycling rate of 30 % for rigid plastics, and all these technologies must work hand in hand to achieve this. A similar trend can be observed worldwide. Investments by major players in mechanical recycling and depolymerisation technologies are imminent. ‘Design for sustainability’ and ‘easy recycling’ are currently trending. Many countries have benefited from the ‘circular economy for plastics’ for better waste management, and India will do the same. Versatility, affordability, convenience and recyclability will continue to contribute to the growth of the Indian rPET industry!

For more information please contact: Mr RK Gera, Chairman of the Environment Committee of IPI, a Master Trainer & based in Mumbai India, EX-AVP of Reliance-PET Division, [email protected]