PET bottles are one of the easiest means of grabbing hold of our favorite beverages. However, they are also a huge burden since each year, more than 25 million tons of plastic bottles are being produced. Why is that? That happens because despite PET being one of the most commonly recycled materials in the world and according to some experts, only about 60% of what is produced gets collected, and only about 6% of what is produced is transformed back into new bottles.
A huge aspect of the problem is that some kinds of PET, such as the colored bottles and the black trays that are used for bento boxes and salads, can be very difficult to recycle. This might change soon enough, though. BP recently announced a breakthrough this week that is promising to shake up PET recycling in a significant manner.
The company has said that its team of researchers has managed to create a new process that is being called BP Infinia. BP Infinia can transform all sorts of PET back into material that is ‘interchangeable with those made from traditional hydrocarbon sources.’ The very first BP Infinia recycling plant is undergoing construction in the Naperville, Illinois offices. If everything proceeds according to the plan, it will become operational sometime next year.
The VP of petrochemicals technology, licensing, and business development Charles Damianides says that ‘BP is committed to fully developing and commercializing this technology.’ The Naperville facility is not just being created so that BP can try out new processes. Rather, it is the first step toward a worldwide rollout. Damianides also said, ‘we firmly believe that this innovation can ultimately contribute to making all types of polyester waste infinitely recyclable.’
We will have to wait and see just how well this innovative idea from BP performs and if it is able to fix the recycling issue of PET.