PET is not a Single use Plastic:
The first thing that comes to our mind when we hear the term “plastic” is a material that has been damaging our mother Earth since its discovery. Well, the purpose of this article is to educate everyone about this unavoidable, man-made, engineered material, PET, that, if it is put to use correctly, can do wonders in terms of profitability and environmental sustainability. There are a huge hue and cry about plastics worldwide and it is for real issues that we are facing. But, there is a saying, little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
It would be an injustice to PET to compare it with other forms of plastics which are of single-use, non-food grade & unsustainable. The “single-use” plastic is used in the manufacturing of items such as Plastic cutlery, Wrapping and Packing films, PVC banners -less than 100 microns thick to be banned from July, 2022 (TOI). Also, items like Earbuds with Plastic sticks, Plastic flags, Thermocol, Candy sticks etc. to be banned from January, 2022. PET is the only plastic that doesn’t fall under the umbrella of all the plastics which the government is planning to ban. And the reasons for this is its recyclability, non-toxicity and versatile applications.
Did you know?
1. A car that you drive is made up of 50% of plastics by volume.
2. According to a study, a household kitchen is 31% made up of plastics.
3. Indian Cricket apparel in the 2015 world-cup was made from recycled PET bottles, just like their current jersey.
PET by default is transparent, tough, unreactive, efficient, unlike other toxic and hazardous plastics, making it a perfect replacement for brittle & heavy glass articles. You may notice how PET has been replacing the conventional use of glass in our kitchen storage jars, beverage bottles, automotive headlights and other countless applications. PET can be recycled into more products than Glass, thus making it more versatile and ‘Useful’ material. PET is also lot cheaper to recycle than Glass and requires less energy and creates fewer greenhouse gases as compared to Glass. Dependency on the PET, irrespective of hue & cry, has been increasing at a growing rate.
PET was valued at $23,891 million in 2016 and is expected to reach $38,014 million by 2023, registering a CAGR of 6.9% from 2017 to 2023. This is creating profitable opportunities for PET recyclers to bridge the gap between demand and supply. Not all plastics are the same and people need to be made aware of them. Plastic which is getting recycled is not a problem but littering and poor collection system is the biggest problem, said Prakash Javedkar, minister of Environment and Forest. PET plastic is 100% recyclable as compared to other form of plastics and in India, close to 90% of the PET is getting recycled every year.
Recycling capabilities make PET stand out from other plastics. It can be recycled into the same form or the other like a beverage bottle into a beverage bottle again, polyester fibre used for apparel, automotive components, textiles, geo-synthetics are the few to mention. PET is the purest and safest form of plastics and has approval from global food agencies such as FSSAI, FDA etc.
“We identified large scale industries that use discarded PET bottle to produce a variety of products and visited their recycling facilities to incorporate our data,” said Dr Magesh Nand Gopal, Scientist, NCL
Recycling is the way to nurture sustainability and longevity for our planet. Take a pledge to recycle and save our future!
“PET PLAST INDIA” is one of the leading manufacturers of PET blowing machines and related components. The state of art manufacturing unit is located in the industrial hub of the capital region of India. PET Plast India Inc. always thrive for innovation, latest technology and support local communities through the CSR program. Our products are Industry 4.0 Ready and innovative products and a well-established brand in the domestic and international market, especially in the African region.
Our indigenous team of researchers have also carried out experiments and studies to support PET plastic being the safest form of plastic. We cover most of the value chain associated with PET plastics. Our machines can be customized as per the client’s requirement make virtually infinite shapes and sizes of PET, By Priyanka Bhati (PET PLAST INDIA) Sr. BDM (International business).
