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Jan 30, 2013 / in Blog Articles

This is the recycling symbol of Polyethylene Terephthalate which is usually abbreviated PET or PETE…you should find it on beverage containers. PET is commonly used for beverage, food and other liquid containers and can be recycled. It is a popular choice for packaging as it is inexpensive, lightweight, transparent, resealable, shatter-resistant and recyclable. Recycled PET, known as RPET, is used for new products such as polyester carpets, fabric for T shirts, athletic shoes, luggage, automative parts etc.PET has two main components, 30 percent modified-ethylene glycol (MEG) and the balance, purified terephthalic acid (PTA)… and Coca-Cola are on a quest to produce a PET “PlantBottle” based entirely on bio products. Coke’s PlantBottle already uses plant materials to make the MEG and hopes to have bio based PTA within the next few years. Coca-Cola has sold more than 10 billion PlantBottle packages around the world since 2009 that are less dependent on petroleum and have a lower carbon impact. On top of this comes the news that the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) have commissioned a study by the University of Waterloo’s School of Planning which reveals that that the amount of plastics currently converted to energy is negligible and millions of tons of what could be valuable energy are going to waste. If the entire amount of non-recycled plastics that end up in Canada’s landfills is converted to fuel, through pyrolysis, it would produce 9 million barrels of oil-equivalent hydrocarbons sufficient to run 600 000 motor vehicles for a year. Or if the plastics were separated from other waste and transported to facilities where it could be burned to produce electricity, it would reduce the country’s annual coal consumption by 681 453 tons.Coca Cola’s aim to produce entirely plant based PET in the production of its plastic bottles and the CPIA recommendation for improved plastics recycling and better recoverability of energy value from non-recycled plastics demonstrates a responsible attitude. We at Filcon Filters are dedicated to the cause of a clean environment reusing/recycling water and waste.