Around the world, people are understanding that not all plastic packaging is the same. A unique recycled plastic called Polyethylene Terephthalate (abbreviated PET) is commonly used for soft drinks and water bottles. And today PET plastic bottles are the most recycled plastic packaging in the world. This number will increase as the world is working together to reduce plastic waste.
Today, big brands tend to use recycled packaging to satisfy consumer needs. Typically Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever, Danone and Nestle have all made full commitments to using 100% recycled plastic in their products. Brands affirm PET’s value, not only from an economic point of view, but also from comprehensive sustainability.
As the world’s largest producer of recycled PET packaging, Indorama Ventures believes that recycled PET packaging will drive sustainable growth in the plastic packaging industry. In 2019, the company has pledged to spend $ 1.5 billion to increase the volume of recycled product to at least 750,000 tons by 2025. To set this target as of March this year Indorama Ventures has recycled bottles PET’s 50 billion since the project kicked off in 2011. Indorama Ventures’ investment will help the company recycle 50 billion bottles a year by 2025. To do this, Indorama Ventures is building infrastructure to expand production and provide an open market for recycled PET packaging.
Recycled PET in Vietnam
In Vietnam, the number of research projects focusing on the field of recycled PET plastic but not much. There have been some initial studies on the use of recycled polyethylene to make composite polymers and polypropylene pyrolysis for fuel production, but only at a laboratory scale.
In the Mekong Delta, there is a process for recycling a mixture of waste polymers into water gutters, but the durability depends much on the type of waste polymer. At Hop Thanh factory, Thai Binh, waste PET bottles are cleaned, chopped, melted and extruded into recycled polyester fibers. However, this fiber is only suitable for cotton gut for blankets and pillows.
At the Laboratory of Refining – Petrochemical, University of Mining and Geology, Dr. Bui Thi Le Thuy and his colleagues successfully synthesized imidazole-type ionic liquid and used as catalyst for the process of glycol to plastic granules PET of Dinh Vu Polyethylene terephthalate synthetic fiber factory and waste PET plastic bottle. The product is divided into 3 parts: monomer, dimer and oligomer. The structure of the products has been confirmed by infrared spectrum, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometry. Results showed that 95% conversion and 60% BHET selectivity could be achieved at 195 ° C, within 8 hours.