The post-consumer PET Recycling Technology that PTP Group is offering to its partners a.k.a. PET-M is a patented “state-of-the-art” method which belongs to a general category of chemical, or secondary recycling processes. 

The Process

The post-consumer PET Recycling Technology that PTP Group is offering to its partners a.k.a. PET-M is a patented “state-of-the-art” method which belongs to a general category of chemical, or secondary recycling processes. It had obtained LNOs from the U.S. FDA and Health Canada, along with several EU food safety certificates.The rPET resin produced using this technology is well known and well received in Europe by multiple clients. 

The PET-M technology was developed with 3 major objectives in mind:

1. Provide for the highest level of material decontamination

2. Consistently restore/upgrade physical and mechanical properties of PET to match virgin material

3. Assure economic efficiency of the recycling process

The PET-M recycling technology is a continuous process that includes the following principal stages:   

A. Drying of the feedstock material inside the crystallizer is intended to remove significant amount of contamination,. Surrogate contamination tests conducted as part of regulatory approvals in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, have confirmed that this initial drying stage removes up to 90% of material contamination

B. Extrusion of the material at stable temperatures using the most innovative extrusion technology provides for a quality “plastification” process without material degradation, loss of physical and mechanical properties, or elevation of acetaldehyde (AA)Extrusion causes de-composition of non-volatile contaminants that allows for their subsequent removal from the melt.

- At this stage, PET-M process is enhanced by introduction into the melt of a silicon-based chemical modifier by weight. In its essence, the PET-M modification process leads to further “polycondensation” of the material and enhancement of its physical and mechanical properties.

- Additional de-contamination is achieved through high-vacuum degassing applied to the melt.

C. Melt filtration inside the screen changer assures removal of mechanical impurities up to the size of the human eye resolution. Following melt filtration, decontamination efficiency of the PET-M technology reaches 99.9+%. D. Material pelletizing is done using "CrystallCut" technology providing the producer with the ability to evaluate quality of the amorphous pellets before they are crystallized by their internal heat.

Efficiency of the PET-M technology has been confirmed by many years of continuous use and development, and by the growing number of satisfied customers. It is apparent that lower energy use and shorter process residence times lead to meaningful economic benefits of PET-M technology used by PTP Group as compared to most of other commercial PET recycling technologies.