Two Swiss firms claim to have created a closed-loop PET bottle.
Tech start-up DePloy teamed up with packaging specialist PTI, which also has offices in the US, to deliver the container.
Plastic waste from packaging and insulation was first broken down to monomers known as purified terephthalic acid (PTA).
These were then used to produce recycled PET pellets that were processed into bottles by injection stretch blow molding.
DePloy senior business development manager Gaetano Dedual said: “For this project we really wanted to challenge ourselves, taking a mixture of different PET and polyester-containing waste streams that are blended and have different additives.
“Being able to hold this bottle in my hands is a testament to DePoly’s and PTI’s ingenuity and expertise.”
PTI project management director Stéphane Morier added: “We did not really know what to expect from these first processing and prototyping trials with DePoly’s chemically recycled material.
“For a premiere, the outcome is promising. With PTI’s technical expertise, the prototyping went well and the quality and performance of the produced samples are similar to a control made from a virgin PET resin.”
