PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2010

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 30 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 10/10 www.petpla.net PET bottles on the floor The PET enviroTuf carpet solution from Futuris Auto- motive Interiors provides an alternative to traditional automotive nylon carpet, while delivering both envi- ronmental and cost benefits. Recycled post-consumer PET bottles are used to produce the carpet yarn, which is tufted to produce carpet material that meets the demanding standards for automotive use. The company has received three awards at the global and prestigious Automotive News Pace Awards. Nylon vs PET – current situation PET tufted carpeting has, for many years, been considered an alterna- tive to nylon for automotive carpets. However, despite advantages such as improved stain resistance and the possibility of using recycled soda and water bottles as feedstock, PET was not affordable because it meant using higher, more expensive carpet pile weights to meet automotive require- ments for wear and resiliency. The industry generally considered this an intrinsic limitation of PET fibre, as attractive as using recycled water and soda bottles would be. Beside nylon, there are also tufted PP and Needle Punch PET as low cost options avail- able as carpet materials. The process makes the difference Traditional tufting operations utilise steam boxes that reach temperatures of approximately 100°C (212 F) for around 10 -20s. Although this heating process is sufficient to texturise typical nylon & polypropylene yarn, it is not sufficient to ‘bulk’ tufted PET carpet fibres. Extensive experimentation determined that a temperature range of 115-137°C (240 – 280 F) for 20 – 40s is required to bulk the full range of PET yarn construction. With its PET carpet technology, Futuris Automotive is able to meet automotive carpet specifications regarding wear resistance and resil- ience at the same carpet face weight as nylon, by developing innovative fibre, tufting, and carpet construction technologies. Face fibres utilised in the carpets can be made from post- consumer recycled material (validated with 20-80% recycled content). Lower costs – and 100% recyclable As a result, Futuris is able to offer PET carpet at lower cost than nylon but with better appearance and