Overview
PET (polyethylene terephthalate) has among the highest recycling rates among plastics, driven by its widespread presence in waste streams, relative ease of collection and separation, and amenable properties for mechanical recycling. Particularly as bottles, PET's inherent properties support multiple cycles of reshaping and remelting without significant quality degradation. PET’s versatility also bolsters its appeal in sectors like textiles and packaging. Yet, by 2030, the demand for rPET is predicted to triple the projected supply. With escalating environmental concerns, regulatory imperatives, and consumer expectations, brand owners are ramping up their commitment to improving recyclability. Nonetheless, only 27% of PET bottles are currently recycled. The majority of PET is often destined to landfills stifling rPET supply growth amid rising demand. Globally, the annual production of plastic waste broadly nears 400 million metric tons, of which less than 10% is recycled.
Commercial Technologies
This rPET TECH report provides a comprehensive analysis of PET recycling, delving into technical, environmental, regulatory, and economic vectors affecting PET recycling on a global and regional basis. The report covers mechanical to chemical recycling technologies including solvent-based purification, glycolysis, methanolysis, and enzymatic hydrolysis. The report provides in-depth profiles of essential technology licensors, owners, operators, and sorting technology companies, delving into the intricacies of their respective operations. The report offers a Cost of Production analysis spanning the United States Gulf Coast (USGC), Western Europe, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Region-specific insights shed light on market dynamics and the economic viability of intermediates, including rPET flakes, Bis-Het through both full and partial glycolysis, and DMT via methanolysis. Additionally, it benchmarks final products like rPET pellets against the Q1 2023 virgin market price.
Process Economics
PET recycling encompasses a set of key processes: collection, separation, processing, and re-fabrication. Recycling practices differ across regions, driven by local policies, infrastructure, and end-use demand. A comprehensive evaluation of the PET recycling market, informed by NexantECA's Cost of Production analysis for Q1 2023, suggests mechanical recycling methods are most economically viable given high-quality PET flake inputs.
However, the chemical recycling avenue holds promise in converting low-value and challenging feedstocks into highvalue products. Factors such as feedstock quality and technological progress can bolster the competitiveness of advanced chemical recycling techniques, filling gaps where mechanical recycling might be limited. NexantECA's regional-specific insights illuminate the most promising mechanical and advanced recycling technologies, considering factors like feedstock availability, recycling maturity, energy usage, and market demand, providing a clearer understanding of the true economic feasibility of these recycling approaches.
Commercial Overview
As one of the most recycled plastics in the world, advanced technologies such as near-infrared (NIR) and optical sorting can further boost the efficiency of PET recycling assuming collection rates increase. Though the rPET market, particularly in Europe, has seen volatility, due to factors like lower virgin PET prices and inexpensive Asian imports, the prospects for PET recycling remain promising. The push from public support and legislations in regions like the U.S. and EU propels optimism in the sector. The increasing emphasis on sustainability among multinational companies, in response to consumer expectations, further augments the demand for recycled PET, driving investments into improved recycling technologies and infrastructures.

1 Executive Summary 1

2 Introduction 4

2.1.1 Thermoplastics, Thermosets, and Recycling Rates 4

2.1.2 Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) 5

2.1.3 Features Impacting Recyclability of PET 7

2.1.4 rPET Recent Developments 8

2.2 Recycling PET 9

      2.2.1 Collection 10

      2.2.2 Sorting 15

      2.2.3 Recycling 18

      2.2.4 Re-fabrication 20

2.3 Drivers for PET Recycling 20

      2.3.1 Environmental Drivers 20

      2.3.2 PET Energy Demand 22

      2.3.3 Impact on Global Warming Potential 25

      2.3.4 Policy Drivers 27

3 Mechanical Recycling of PET Waste 41

3.1 Introduction 41

      3.1.1 Superclean PET Recycling 42

      3.1.2 Mechanical Recycling Scale 45

3.2 Technology Providers 46

      3.2.1 ProTec Polymer Processing 46

      3.2.2 Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH 47

      3.2.3 Starlinger 53

      3.2.4 Viscotec 59

      3.2.5 POLYMETRIX (Owned by Buhler Group) 70

      3.2.6 Erema 73

      3.2.7 Krones 84

      3.2.8 Gneuss Kunststofftechnik 87

      3.2.9 Phoenix Technologies International LLC 93

      3.2.10 Plastic Technologies, Inc. . 94

      3.2.11 Sidel 95

      3.2.12 Amut 96

3.3 Owners and Operators 97

      3.3.1 Indorama 97

      3.3.2 Far Eastern New Century (FENC) 100

      3.3.3 Veolia 102

      3.3.4 Evergreen 103

      3.3.5 DAK Americas 107

      3.3.6 PolyQuest 108

4 Chemical Recycling 110

4.1 Overview 110

4.2 Solvent-Based Purification of PET Waste 110

      4.2.1 Introduction 110

      4.2.2 Sulzer ChemTech 112

      4.2.3 Carbios 114

      4.2.4 BioBTX 115

      4.2.5 Evrnu 116

      4.2.6 Worn Again Technologies 120

      4.2.7 SK Chemicals 124

      4.2.8 Gr3n Recycling 125

      4.2.9 Loop Industries 126

4.3 Glycolysis of PET Waste 127

      4.3.1 Introduction 127

      4.3.2 High Level Profiles of Selected Technology Developers 130

4.4 Methanolysis of PET Waste 150

      4.4.1 Introduction 150

      4.4.2 High Level Profiles of Selected Technology Developers 154

4.5 Hydrolysis of PET Waste 156

      4.5.1 Introduction 156

      4.5.2 High Level Profiles of Selected Technology Developers 159

4.6 Enzymatic Hydrolysis of PET Waste 162

      4.6.1 Introduction 162

      4.6.2 Carbios 167

      4.6.3 Bio-Based PET 171

      4.6.4 Anellotech Inc. Bio-TCat~(TM) 171

      4.6.5 Avantium - Ray Technology~(TM) (Single Step Hydrogenolysis) 174

      4.6.6 Origin Materials (Formerly Micromidas) - Cellulose to para-Xylene 176

5 Economic Analysis 177

5.1 Cost Basis 177

5.2 Investment Basis 177

5.3 Pricing Basis 178

5.4 Cost of Production Basis 179

5.5 Mechanical Recycling 180

      5.5.1 Cost of Producing PET Flakes from PET Bottle Waste 180

      5.5.2 Cost of Producing PET Pellets from Recycled PET Flakes 181

5.6 Chemical Recycling - Glycolysis 181

      5.6.1 Cost of Producing PET Flakes from PET Bottle Waste 181

      5.6.2 Cost of Producing Bis-HET from PET Flakes 181

      5.6.3 Cost of Producing Polyethylene Terephthalate 182

5.7 Chemical Recycling - Methanolysis 182

      5.7.1 Cost of Producing DMT from PET Flakes 182

      5.7.2 Cost of Producing Recycled PET from DMT 182

5.8 United States (USGC) 183

      5.8.1 Intermediate Recycled Materials 184

      5.8.2 PET Products 185

5.9 Western Europe 186

      5.9.1 Intermediate Recycled Products 188

      5.9.2 PET Products 188

5.10 China 189

      5.10.1 Intermediate Recycled Products 191

      5.10.2 PET Products 191

5.11 Japan 192

      5.11.1 Intermediate Recycled Products 194

      5.11.2 PET Products 194

5.12 Southeast Asia 195

      5.12.1 Intermediate Recycled Products 197

      5.12.2 PET Products 197

5.13 Sensitivity Cases 197

      5.13.1 Primary Feedstock Sensitivity 197

      5.13.2 CAPEX Sensitivity 198

6 Cost of Production Estimate Tables 200

Appendices

A Definitions of Capital Cost Terms Used in Process Economics 239

B Definitions of Operating Cost Terms Used in Process Economics 244

C TECH Program Title Index (2013-2023) 247

D References 250

Figures

Figure 1 Recyclability of Post-Consumer Waste by Type of Plastics 4

Figure 2 Global Production Comparison of DMT, PET Bottle Grade, and PTA 6

Figure 3 PET Demand by End Use - 2022 6

Figure 4 Example of Closed and Open Loop Recycling of a PET Bottle Recycling 10

Figure 5 Deposit Return Scheme Implementation in Europe 13

Figure 6 Energy Consumption Profile for Each Part of the PET Bottle’s Supply Chain 24

Figure 7 Carbonated PET Bottle’s GWP Impact by Size .26

Figure 8 Carbonated PET Bottles’ (0.5L) GWP Contribution Bridge in Europe 26

Figure 9 States with Advanced Recycling Laws 32

Figure 10 Western Europe Member States .34

Figure 11 Color Shift of Recycled PET Bottles 42

Figure 12 No Objection Letters Granted to PET Physical Processes by Year 43

Figure 13 No Objection Letters Granted to PET Physical Processes by Company 44

Figure 14 ProTec Polymer Processing Tumble Reactor Machinery 47

Figure 15 Liquid State Polycondensation 48

Figure 16 NGR P:REACT Recycling Machinery 50

Figure 17 Starlinger recoSTAR PET FG Process .55

Figure 18 Starlinger recoSTAR PET (HC) IV+ Process 57

Figure 19 Viscotec viscoSHEET Recycling Process .61

Figure 20 Viscotec viscoSHEET~(one) Recycling Process .63

Figure 21 Viscotec viscoSTAR Recycling Process 65

Figure 22 Viscotec deCON iV+ Recycling Process .66

Figure 23 Viscotec deCON Recycling Process .68

Figure 24 Viscotec deCON20 Recycling Machinery 69

Figure 25 Temperature Profile of Conventional Continuous Melt-Polymerization/ SSP and EcoSphere~(TM) Technology 72

Figure 26 Process Flow Detail of EcosphereTM Technology .74

Figure 27 Buhler Bottle to Bottle Process 75

Figure 28 EREMA VACUNITE~R Recycling Machinery .79

Figure 29 EREMA VACUREMA~R Recycling Machinery .81

Figure 30 Multi-purpose Reactor (MPR) 82

Figure 31 Vacurema Line .83

Figure 32 Krones MetaPure W-PET Washing Module 86

Figure 33 Krones MetaPure S Decontamination Module 87

Figure 34 Extruder MRSjump with Vacuum Recycling Machinery 89

Figure 35 Tray-to-Tray Recycling Sheet Line with MRSjump Recycling Machinery .89

Figure 36 Scheme of the Polyreactor Jump 90

Figure 37 Vacuum for Polyreactor Jump Process .91

Figure 38 Vacuum for Polyreaction Extruder MRSjump Process 92

Figure 39 Indorama Venture Facilities .98

Figure 40 AMP Cortext~(TM) .105

Figure 41 AMP Artifical Intelligence .106

Figure 42 PolyQuest Recycling Scheme 109

Figure 43 Typical PET Dissolution Process 111

Figure 44 Devo Technology 113

Figure 45 Evrnu NuCycl Process 118

Figure 46 Evrnu Liquified Polyester Process 119

Figure 47 Worn Again Technologies Solution Scheme 121

Figure 48 Worn Again Technologies Solvent-based Recycling Process 122

Figure 49 Worn Again Technologies Dissolution of Bottle Grade 123

Figure 50 PET Glycolysis Depolymerization Reaction 128

Figure 51 Aquafil Process 132

Figure 52 Rewind~(TM)PET Block Flow Diagram 137

Figure 53 Esterification and Glycolysis 142

Figure 54 PET Methanolysis Depolymerization Reaction 151

Figure 55 PET Methanolysis (Vapor Phase Products) 152

Figure 56 PET Methanolysis (Liquid Phase Products) 153

Figure 57 PET Neutral Hydrolysis Depolymerization Reaction 156

Figure 58 PET Alkaline Hydrolysis Depolymerization Reaction 157

Figure 59 Hydrolysis of PET Scarp Using Caustic Lime 158

Figure 60 PET Enzymatic Depolymerization Process 164

Figure 61 Engineered PEtases that Degrade PET to PTA and MEG 165

Figure 62 Carbios Business Model 168

Figure 63 Carbios Enzymatic Recycling Process 169

Figure 64 Simplified Block Flow Diagram for Anellotech Bio-TCat~(TM) 173

Figure 65 Traditional Conversion of Sugars to MEG 175

Figure 66 Ray Technology~(TM) Single Step Hydrogenolysis of Sugars to MEG 175

Figure 67 Simplified Process Flow of Cellulose to para-Xylene 176

Figure 68 Overview of Typical Cost of Production 179

Figure 69 Cost of Production Summary - United States 184

Figure 70 Cost of Production Summary - Western Europe 187

Figure 71 Cost of Production Summary - China 190

Figure 72 Cost of Production Summary Japan 193

Figure 73 Cost of Production Summary - Southeast Asia 196

Figure 74 Primary Feedstock Sensitivity 198

Figure 75 CAPEX Sensitivity 199

Tables

Table 1 Europe DRS Status 14

Table 2 CPG Commitments 22

Table 3 States with Advanced Recycling Legislation by Date of Enactment 33

Table 4 Plastic Taxes 36

Table 5 Revisions Proposed for the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (subject to change) 38

Table 6 SWOT Analysis 44

Table 7 rPET Capacity List 45

Table 8 P:REACT Specifications 51

Table 9 Starlinger Food-Contact rPET Systems 58

Table 10 POLYMETRIX Equipment and Process Technologies 71

Table 11 Krones PET Recycling Systems 84

Table 12 TopGreen Spec 101

Table 13 TopGreen PCR 101

Table 14 KTS-Chemtex Continuous-Melt Polymerization Plant Reference List 102

Table 15 PET Projects Completed by Uhde Inventa-Fischer (UIF) 102

Table 16 PolyQuest rPET Characteristics 109

Table 17 Solvents for PET Dissolution Processes 112

Table 18 Reactivity of Lewis Acid with DMAP 128

Table 19 Glycolysis Technology Developers for PET Waste 130

Table 20 Aquafil Business Units 130

Table 21 Aquafil Group EverPET~R Recycling Systems 131

Table 22 Molar Fractions of the Main Products 145

Table 23 Methanolysis Technology Developers for PET Waste 154

Table 24 Hydrolysis Technology Developers for PET Waste 159

Table 25 Enzymes that Hydrolyze PET 163

Table 26 Performance of Enzymes used in PET Hydrolysis 166

Table 27 Mechanical, Chemical, and Biological Degradation 166

Table 28 Q1 2023 Prices 178

Table 29 Summary of PET Recycling Cost of Production - United States 184

Table 30 Summary of PET Recycling Cost of Production - Western Europe 187

Table 31 Summary of PET Recycling Cost of Production - China 190

Table 32 Summary of PET Recycling Cost of Production - Japan 193

Table 33 Cost of Production Summary - Southeast Asia 196

Table 34 Cost of Production Estimate for rPET Flakes Process: rPET Flakes from PET Bottle Scrap, USGC 200

Table 35 Cost of Production Estimate for rPET Pellets Process: rPET Pellets from rPET Flakes, USGC 201

Table 36 Cost of Production Estimate for Bis-HET Process: Full Glycolysis, USGC 202

Table 37 Cost of Production Estimate for Bis-HET, USGC Process: Partial Glycolysis, USGC 203

Table 38 Cost of Production Estimate for PET Process: PTA and bis-HET (via Partial Glycolysis) USGC 204

Table 39 Cost of Production Estimate for PET Process: PTA and Bis-HET (via Full Glycolysis), USGC 205

Table 40 Cost of Production Estimate for DMT Process: DMT via Methanolysis, USGC 206

Table 41 Cost of Production Estimate for PET Chip Process: PET Chip via DMT USGC 207

Table 42 Cost of Production Estimate for rPET Flakes Process: rPET Flakes from PET Bottle Scrap, Western Europe 208

Table 43 Cost of Production Estimate for rPET Pellets Process: rPET Pellets from rPET Flakes, Western Europe 209

Table 44 Cost of Production Estimate for Bis-HET Process: Full Glycolysis Western Europe 210

Table 45 Cost of Production Estimate for Bis-HET Process: Partial Glycolysis Western Europe 211

Table 46 Cost of Production Estimate for PET Process: PTA and Bis-HET (via Partial Glycolysis), Western Europe 212

Table 47 Cost of Production Estimate for PET Process: PTA and Bis-HET (via Full Glycolysis), Western Europe 213

Table 48 Cost of Production Estimate for: DMT Process: DMT via Methanolysis, Western Europe 214

Table 49 Cost of Production Estimate for DMT Process: PET Chip via DMT, Western Europe 215

Table 50 Cost of Production Estimate for rPET Flakes Process: rPET Flakes from PET Bottle Scrap, China 216

Table 51 Cost of Production Estimate for rPET Pellets Process: rPET Pellets from rPET Flakes, China 217

Table 52 Cost of Production Estimate for Bis-HET Process: Full Glycolysis, China 218

Table 53 Cost of Production Estimate for Bis-HET Process: Partial Glycolysis, China 219

Table 54 Cost of Production Estimate for PET Process: PTA and Bis-HET (via Partial Glycolysis), China 220

Table 55 Cost of Production Estimate for PET Process: PTA and Bis-HET (via Full Glycolysis), China 221

Table 56 Cost of Production Estimate for: DMT Process: DMT via Methanolysis, China 222

Table 57 Cost of Production Estimate for: DMT Process: PET Chip via DMT, China 223

Table 58 Cost of Production Estimate for rPET Pellets Process: PET Pellets, Japan 224

Table 59 Cost of Production Estimate for Bis-HET Process: Full Glycolysis, Japan 225

Table 60 Cost of Production Estimate for Bis-HET Process: Partial Glycolysis, Japan 226

Table 61 Cost of Production Estimate for PET Process: PTA and Bis-HET (via Partial Glycolysis), Japan 227

Table 62 Cost of Production Estimate for PET Process: PTA and Bis-HET (via Full Glycolysis), Japan 228

Table 63 Cost of Production Estimate for: DMT Process: DMT via Methanolysis, Japan 229

Table 64 Cost of Production Estimate for: DMT Process: PET Chip via DMT, Japan 230

Table 65 Cost of Production Estimate for rPET Flakes Process: rPET Flakes from PET Bottle Scrap, Southeast Asia 231

Table 66 Cost of Production Estimate for rPET Pellets Process: rPET Pellets from rPET Flakes, Southeast Asia 232

Table 67 Cost of Production Estimate for Bis-HET Process: Full Glycolysis, Southeast Asia 233

Table 68 Cost of Production Estimate for Bis-HET Process: Partial Glycolysis Southeast Asia 234

Table 69 Cost of Production Estimate for PET Process: PTA and Bis-HET (via Partial Glycolysis), Southeast Asia 235

Table 70 Cost of Production Estimate for PET Process: PTA and Bis-HET (via Full Glycolysis) Southeast Asia 236

Table 71 Cost of Production Estimate for: DMT Process: DMT via Methanolysis Southeast Asia 237

Table 72 Cost of Production Estimate for: DMT Process: DMT PET Chip via DMT, Southeast Asia 238

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