Rajesh Kumar Gera: PET recycling — challenges, opportunities, and trends

The Indian PET industry has grown. In 2020-21, PET resin consumption was 1.10-million tonnes per year. It has been growing, on average, at a rate of 12–14% pa. In 2023-24, PET resin consumption was at 1.7-million tonnes per annum: with 92% of the consumption including PET bottles, 4% sheets, and 2% strapping and monofilaments.

The PET bottle usage was 1.7 MMT (23-24). Meanwhile, the recycled PET usage was 1.55-million metric tonnes (92%). There are more than 200 collection-cum-baling centres in India. The good news is that they are growing.

There is a shift away from the unorganised informal setup to organised formal recycling setups. Mechanical recycling of PET packs is the norm. 50+ medium-to-large scale manufacturing units deploy washed flakes of recycled PET.

The process, the method: PET recycling in India starts with a waste collector/rag picker who collects the discarded PET bottles from different sites including dump sides. In turn, these get sold to the kabadiwallahs (waste traders), who sort PET from other plastics and make bales.  

The baled bottles are transported to the recyclers, who do the sorting, and removal of metals, caps, rings, labels etc. These are shredded, washed and dried. The dried flakes are sent to the textile spinning units and recycled polyester fibre is then used to make polyester fabric and other end-uses. 

There is a growing interest in making B-to-B resin from recycled PET flakes. This involves a special washing process and decontamination along with other standard recycling processes.

Key trends in the usage of recycled PET resin
The use of recycled PET is allowed by BIS for the packaging of non-food items in India. The major FMCG producers (non-food) are studying the possibilities of using rPET. The initial target is 15% rPET. Today, rPET has been approved by  FSSAI for use in direct food contact end-uses. One of the major brand owners is already using B-to-B PET resin for packaging of water and CSD (carbonated soft drinks) in India. 

Awareness is on the rise about recyclability and sustainability. Today, initiatives by the brands do influence the pack choices by consumers. The consistent availability of quality rPET resin is the key. The use of rPET in secondary packaging, for example, jars is being done by some of the major brand owners. This is driven by the need for greener packaging. PET is the first material of choice, due to the ease of recyclability and PET recycling systems.

PET usage, the challenges
One of the major challenges is traceability. One of the key differentiators in time to come in the Indian recycling ecosystem will be the assurance of traceability.  The move is towards digitalisation and block-chain/AI-driven SCM of rPET bottles.  The brand owners and regulatory bodies are paying much more attention to this. One assumes it will improve the quality of recycled chips.

The other challenge is the availability of consistent quality rPET material. There are concerns about IV & lab values. This is being addressed by improving the key steps in mechanical recycling; including both the sorting and washing processes.

Updates on B-to-B resin
There is a limited availability of food-grade rPET resin. Also, there is a premium Vs virgin PET resin manufactured by the fossil route. The mechanical recycling process for rPET for non-bottle uses involves sorting and washing. 
In B-to-B resin, the flakes go through the decontamination process. SSP and granulation for use in bottles for direct food contact applications.

There are few manufacturers of B-to-B PET resin on a pan-India basis. Presently, ten lines are getting commissioned in the next 12-18 months for rPET resin, which is suitable for direct food-contact packaging.

Advanced recycling
The demand for rPET resin, in the long run, can’t be met entirely by mechanical recycling. There is a growing interest in non-mechanical PET recycling globally as well as in India. This includes both chemical recycling and bio-chemical recycling technology for PET recycling. Chemical recycling is being done in a small way in India.

The bio-recycling process will help to power both the PET bottle and textile recycling and circularity. One of the technology suppliers (Carbios) has done a successful alliance of polymer science and enzymology.

The process enables the enzymatic recycling of PET and results in virgin-like monomers. It will have high purity and consistent rPET quality which permits direct food contact applications. 

The enzymatic recycling process will be discussed in Part II of this column, which will be published in the WhatPackaging? magazine’s next issue.

Applications for rPET
Today rPET finds applications in non-bottle end-uses, especially in the fibre industry.  The different end-uses in India include: fibre fill, non-woven, sheets, strap, injection moulding, POY, PSF, bottles for food and non-food applications, monofilament, and masterbatches among others. 

The polyester fibre is used as a filling material for cushions, and pillows and converted to fabrics for use in clothing, and upholstery. These products include T-shirts, caps, jackets, scarves, carry bags etc. For instance, the Indian cricket team’s apparel is manufactured from recycled PET bottles. 

Some of the other applications in India are for non-woven (for automobiles, carpets, boot liners), synthetic leather, fibre filling, spun yarn and textiles. It is encouraging that A-lister brands like Adidas, and Nike among others make athletic merchandise from recycled polyester in India. This makes their brand greener (circular) and helps attract a premium for their regular products. 

In the non-bottle area, rPET sheet usage includes blister packaging of toothbrushes, battery cells, and toiletries for the domestic and export markets by major brand owners. It was enabled by the collaboration between all the stakeholders including the major Indian PET raw material manufacturers, sheet suppliers, thermoformers/FFS companies along with brand owners.

Machinery and quality
As the quality of recycled chips depends on all the process steps, there is a shift in the Indian mindset towards high-end recycling machines for new projects in India, to get improved quality of recycled PET chips. The technical alliances at the Indian and global level for recycling machinery are in offing.

Today, many of these machines are being made in India with foreign collaboration. The Ishitva Robotic Systems in India have made inroads in sorting machines for handling mixed plastic waste including PET.

Regulations and what next…
In India, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) frames standards for different packaging materials and end-uses including recycled resins.  For example, IS 14534: 1998 covers guidelines for the recovery and recycling of plastic waste.

IS 14535: 1998 is the BIS standard for using recycled plastics for the manufacturing of different products focusing on non-food sectors. The use of rPET in food and beverage end-uses was not allowed till recently in India.  FSSAI has introduced draft food safety and standards packaging (Amendment) regulations for the use of recycled plastics in 2022. This was based on the food contact materials based on the PWM rules 2021.

Thus, approved guidelines and acceptance criteria for the use of recycled post-consumer PET for food contact applications are being made effective for implementation. The draft amendment regulations are in the process of approval by BIS and its notification soon.

Promotion and outreach
There has been a spurt in the installation of reverse vending machines (RVM) in the last 5-6 years. This is due to the concerted efforts of machinery suppliers and PET resin manufacturers.  There are thousand plus RVM machines installed all over India.

The main objective has been to sensitise both the public and decision-makers on the need for recycling. The idea is to create awareness in the minds of decision-makers about the recycling ecosystem for PET recycling in India.

The Indian ecosystem
Although PET is a relatively new packaging material, its versatility, affordability and convenience are contributing to its growth in India. But it is putting pressure on the recycling infrastructure. Today consumers in Indian society are on a learning curve in terms of their usage, handling and disposal of PET packaging.  

They are benefitting from better management of PET waste, including difficult-to-recycle PET packaging/polyester textile materials through chemical and enzymatic recycling systems. It is also introducing more rPET items in the system including those for direct food-contact applications.

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Rajesh Kumar Gera is a packaging and recycling consultant, and was AVP at Reliance Industries’ PET division.