Case Study: Upcycling and PET

Recycling programs are gaining traction in popularity however the average PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle used by consumers will most likely end up in a landfill or littering the land and waterways due to inefficient or misunderstood recycling practices. In order to address this problem directly, innovative plastic companies have been exploring a range of solutions in order to close the gap in the circular economy and thus ensuring plastic waste is managed from product to conception to reuse.

However, due to these new efforts, post-consumer PET bottles are now seen as a mine of untapped potential raw materials for use in a unique chemical upcycling process pioneered by research teams from companies such as SABIC Innovative Plastics. SABIC’s solution focuses on reusing post-consumer PET in resin. While PBT (Polybutylene terephthalate) resins are traditionally formed through a chemical process that utilizes a non-renewable crude oil or natural gas as a raw material, whereas SABIC’s ‘iQ resins’ uses proprietary chemistry that produces high-quality PBT resins while using post-consumer PET as its main source, which thus reduces the hydrocarbon-based fuels needed in the mix.

The process regenerates and upgrades the PET waste material saving it from the landfill and giving it an efficient and practical usability. Additionally, the iQ resin manufacturing process is more energy efficient from cradle-to-gate, consuming 55-75% less fossil fuel than other engineering thermoplastics across the market, it also reduces CO2 emissions.

The manufacturing of these resins can extend and transform the life of a standard PET plastic bottle by 20 years, by converting the composites into high-performance products for furniture, electronics, or automotive. Finished products made from iQ resins contain up to 65% post-consumer PET waste, with zero impact on mechanical or aesthetic performance.

Furthermore, the importance of upcycling chemicals is emphasized by the SABIC Innovative Plastics team; "The world around us is changing. Raw materials and energy are in shorter supply than ever, while solid waste is becoming a problem. It isn’t enough anymore for engineering resins to deliver high mechanical, aesthetic and processing performance. They must also deliver environmentally sustainable solutions.".