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One of the most familiar types of plastic packaging
found in American households is made from a plastic
called polyethylene terephthalate or “PET” for
short. Introduced to consumers as the plastic soft
drink bottle in the 1970s, PET quickly gained acceptance
among bottlers and consumers. Because it was
lightweight, economical, and shatterproof, PET plastic
offered unique marketing and lifestyle benefits. PET
plastic is now used as a packaging material for a whole
range of consumer products in addition to carbonated
beverages. These bottles and containers, known as
“custom-PET” containers, are used to package such
consumer products as spring water, liquor, juice, peanut
butter, salad dressing, dish detergent, mouthwash,
household cleaners, and tennis balls, to name just some.
It is now estimated that 31% of all the plastic bottles
produced in the United States are made from PET.
The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) established a
resin identification code in 1987, which contains a
number, surrounded by the “chasing arrows” recycling
symbol, followed by an abbreviation for the specific
plastic it represents. The use of this code has
subsequently been adopted by legislation in 39 states.
This identification code is imprinted on most plastic
packages manufactured in the United States to aid in the
identification of plastics for recycling. The SPI resin
identification code for PET is “#1”.
From the beginning, the PET plastic packaging industry has
demonstrated commitment to environmental responsibility
through recycling. Prior to the introduction of the PET
soft drink bottle on grocery shelves, PET bottle
manufacturers and consumer product companies worked with
private recycling companies to demonstrate that this new
packaging material could be recycled, a major concern
for new packaging, given the popularity of recycling
with the American public.
Reportedly, the first PET bottle recycling process was
established by a company called St. Jude Polymers in
1976, that began recycling PET bottles into plastic
strapping and paintbrush bristles. In 1977, St. Jude
became the first to “repelletize” post-consumer PET
plastic. This was an important step, as many PET
remanufacturing companies rely on plastic in pelletized
form for their processes, increasing the variety of
products that can be made from recycled, post-consumer
PET plastic.
However, a major push in the development of both the
demand and the capacity for post-consumer PET recycling
occurred when a major plastic fiber manufacturer named
Wellman, Inc. entered the picture. As early as 1978,
Wellman began recycling PET bottles into a fiber product
that was suitable for both carpet and fiberfill
applications. Wellman continued to increase its use of
recycled PET and throughout the 1980s and early 1990s
increased their processing capacity and consequently the
market demand for post-consumer PET. The major event in
Wellman’s development of post-consumer PET processing
capacity was the vertical integration of the recycled
PET it processed into its own product lines. Another
push was the development of the first textile fiber
manufactured from 100% recycled PET in 1993, called “Eco
Spun,” which is now a familiar fabric material
particularly in sportswear where it was first used.
Today, St. Jude and Wellman are joined by more than a
dozen other companies, whose combined PET recycling
processing capacity produces over 1/2 billion pounds of
recycled PET resin annually.
With recent advances in PET recycling technology, it is now
possible to “close the loop,” by recycling bottles and
containers back into bottles and containers, even in
some food-contact packaging applications. The Federal
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued “letters
of non-objection” for the use of post-consumer PET in a
number of food-contact packaging applications. This has
greatly increased the demand for recycled PET plastic
and the ability to produce new PET packages from 100%,
post-consumer recycled PET plastic.
Based on data compiled from the FDA, at least 20 letters
of non-objection for the use of post-consumer PET in
food-contact packaging applications were issued between
January, 1991 and July, 1996. There
are three generic types of food-contact packaging
applications/processes for which the use of
post-consumer recycled PET has been issued letters of
non-objection. They are “de-polymerization” processes
that chemically break down PET plastic into its
component chemicals, which are then “re-polymerized” and
made into new PET food-contact packages, multi-layer or
laminated food-contact containers where post-consumer
PET is combined with a virgin PET food-contact layer,
and full-contact food packaging containers where 100%
post-consumer PET is used.
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