Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (RPET) is simply a plastic made from repurposed waste PET from businesses and consumers. It's also the material used most commonly by manufacturers to help meet their sustainability goals.
What is rPET material?
rPET stands for recycled polyethylene terephthalate. It is a type of plastic made from recycled PET plastic, which is commonly used for packaging and containers for food and beverages. Recycling PET plastic reduces waste and conserves resources, as it can be made into new products instead of being discarded.
What is the difference between rPET and PET plastic?
rPET uses 79% fewer greenhouse emissions and less energy than Virgin PET, and has under a quarter of the carbon footprint of Virgin PET. In the EU, by 2025, production of new bottles should include at least 25% rPET and 90% of all used PET should be collected and reprocessed
What is PET?
PET is short for Polyethylene terephthalate. Also referred to as plastic number 1 in the plastic resin code, you can identify it by a number 1 inside the chasing arrows symbol.
PET is made from crude oil and natural gas. These fossil fuels are extracted from the earth using a good deal of energy and resources. Then it’s transported to the processing plant where polymers are produced.
Polymers are large molecules made up of long chains of smaller molecules called monomers. The length and type of monomer are what give each plastic its properties.
The reason we use so much PET plastic is that it is a highly versatile material. Firstly, it is a thermoplastic, which means when heated, it gets soft, making it easier to use in new products. It is also lightweight, has good resistance to chemicals, is strong, durable, safe to use, and can be recycled easily.
One of the main strengths of PET, its durability, is also its biggest problem. It can take more than 700 years for PET to break down in landfills.