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Description

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), commonly known as bottle plastic, is widely used in the food and beverage industry. Even though PET is the most collected type of plastic, recycled PET (r-PET) often becomes used to make less valuable products like carpet fiber because it degrades during processing, use, and recycling. 

This project, supported by the Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF), aims to develop safe additives to restore and enhance the quality of recycled PET and other polyesters. As a result of this comprehensive work, innovative and food-safe additives (known as chain extenders) are developed and tested to restore the properties of r-PET and its blends. 

Key Achievements: 

  • Several new chain extenders that work well with r-PET and other polyesters (such as polylactic acid (PLA)) have been developed. Most importantly, these extenders are free from harmful ingredients. 
  • Created carbon fiber reinforced r-PET composite material with superior mechanical properties, making it suitable for high-value uses such as in the automotive industry, where it offers equal or better performance in comparison with that of commonly used polypropylene (PP). 
  • Economic and environmental evaluations (techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA)) have shown that our chain extenders are both economically viable and environmentally beneficial. 
  • The successful commercial use of these technologies could redirect over 15.4 billion pounds of r-PET away from landfills each year, turning it into high-value products like new bottles and composite materials. This progress supports EREF’s mission and offers significant environmental and societal benefits. 

This report requires a number of Appendices, available here.

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