Technical quality of rPET
This report is the result of a research project that Wageningen University and Research Center (Wageningen UR) has conducted in the Netherlands, aimed to improve the scientific understanding of mechanical recycling processes from sorted PET bottle feedstocks into rPET products.
In the Netherlands three different types of PET bottle feedstocks are produced, originating from deposit refund, separate collection and mechanical recovery systems. The PET bottle feedstocks originating from these three different collection systems have different compositions. First the composition of these feedstocks in terms of packaging and material categories was determined by object-wise sorting. Secondly the impact of ten chosen contaminants on the quality of rPET was systematically studied. Finally, various PET bottle feedstocks were mechanically recycled into rPET granulates with two different processes with a standard laboratory set-up for a comparative analysis.