Recycling PET
Recycling of PET Bottles is the activity whereby bottles made out of PET are collected, sorted and processed in order to reuse the material out of which they are made. Containers made from PET are 100% recyclable, however, this isn't what makes them one of the most environmentally friendly raw materials. Due to its low weight, it allows for the reduction of packaging waste while at the same time cutting back on the emission of contaminants during transport. They also require less fuel during transport (being extremely light) so they also help save energy. The first step in recycling PET bottles is collection. Many local governments and waste collection agencies have started to collect post-consumer PET separately from other household waste. The collected post-consumer PET is taken to recycling centers known as Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF). The second step is to send the collected PET to a sorting center where the different materials will be sorted according to their nature.
At the sorting center the bottles are punctured and baled (compacted into a bundle) and prepared for the reclaimer. The reclaimer is a factory or plant that turns post-consumer bottles (in this case, PET bottles) into PET flakes or pellets, the raw material at the base of recycled PET products. The first thing the reclaimer has to do is to de-bail the bundles. To ensure the final product is as pure as possible, the bottles are sorted once again, prewashed, and then shredded into flakes. The flakes are then washed and dried, stocked, and sold. It is when these flakes (or in some cases, pellets) are purchased that recycling is set into action: the flakes, the raw material, is then melted down and used to manufacture new products. Worldwide, approximately 1.5 million tons of PET are collected per year. Petcore, the European trade association that fosters the collection and recycling of PET, forecasts that in Europe alone, collection will exceed one million tons by 2010.