PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2010

NEWS 9 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 01+02/10 www.petpla.net The brighter future for PET recycling? Post-consumer recycling of PET containers is gaining momentum. As the industry looks increasingly towards the opportunities for a cradle-to-cradle system, where contain- ers are recycled back into new PET containers rather into other PET products, we need to consider the long-term effects of multiple recycling of the PET on the quality of final container aesthetics. Increasing volumes of containers entering the recycling stream already contain significant proportions of recycled material. The result of this current “success” in recycling is, however, likely to have a negative impact on the long term aesthetic quality of PET containers as the quality of the resin potentially deteriorates with each recycling trip. Consider also, that a large percentage of preform produc- tion contains faster reheat resin (for example for carbon- ated soft drinks), which can further compromise container aesthetics. Taking a common scenario, the first time that a container is recycled it could typically contain up to 30% recyclate. Through multi-trip processing a proportion of the recyclate will have gone through one or more process his- tories. Through multiple cycles it can become increasingly difficult to maintain good aesthetics of recycled contain- ers. In order to withstand the rigours of multi-trip process- ing, PET resin will need to become more robust so that when it re-enters the recycling stream at each stage it is as “clean” as it possibly can be. Research into improving PET process capability through the recycling stream has developed a number of potential solutions to this problem. By improving the capability of reheat technology in PET preform processing, researchers at a colorant and additive dispersion specialist (a Pet- core member) believe this issue can be overcome. Although reheat capability can be taken to extremes to create per- fectly clear preforms, a balance needs to be struck between achieving an economically viable reheat process and opti- mised container aesthetics. This new reheat technology incorporates a high per- formance IR absorption component that has been shown to achieve greater reheat capability compared to currently available technologies whilst at the same time demonstrat- ing a masking effect on any potential resin yellowing that may occur after multi-processing. The technology has by its very nature an inherent blue toning quality which results in a clear, bright container. This counteracts any yellowing that can cause a hazy effect in the final container and ultimately yields a higher quality recycled material. In studies through five process histories the reheat tech- nology has been shown to maintain 100% of its IR absorption. In PET container recycling at least, moving towards cradle- to-cradle “reincarnation” now appears to be a step closer to becoming a realistic solution for the future. Many Petcore members are investing in technology development to allow brand owners to package their prod- ucts in recycled-content containers to give maximum shelf life and attractive aesthetics. Their ultimate aim is to pro- duce PET recyclate of the best possible quality from existing bottle collection. A positive contribution from a sustainable industry. P E T C O R E C O L U M N