Bags, bags, carpets: what can be made from PET bottles later on

PET bottles efficiently recycled: The best examples of how recycled PET can be turned into much more than "just" a film or another bottle.

20. June 2018

PET bottles are 98 per cent recycled. Picture: Starlinger

Polyethylene terephthalate - experts will immediately recognise that this complicated word stands for "PET". PET has become an indispensable material for plastic bottles. More and more PET bottles are being recycled in Germany. The PET Forum of the Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (IK) gives examples of how recycled PET can be turned into much more than "just" a film or another bottle.

PET is "the" material for Plastic drinks bottles. According to the findings of the Forums PET sold in PET bottles in the IK. According to a study by the organisation, 97.9% of PET bottles subject to a deposit were recycled in 2015. The same study put the annual production of new PET for 2015 at 345.4 kilotonnes. In addition, there were 121.1 kilotonnes of recycled PET (rPET).

The likelihood of a PET bottle becoming a drinks container again is increasing. This is because the quality of the recycled material is high, as Dr Frank Welle from the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV) told the PET Forum in October 2017: "Thanks to the nearly Single-variety collection in Germany, the conditions for efficient recycling processes in this country are ideal." For plastic bottles, this means: "A PET bottle made from 100 per cent recycled material is not a dream of the future, but is already feasible today."

Efficiently recycled - current examples

Sustainable carpet from Liv Liv, a provider of designer interior design, offers hand-woven carpets made from 100 per cent recycled material. Depending on the size, 100 to 750 recycled plastic bottles are used in the floor covering. Image: Liv

Permanent bag from dm, The permanent bags from the „dm“ drugstores are made of 80 per cent rPET. They are tear-proof and water-resistant. Two 1.5-litre PET bottles are required for production. Image: dm

Backpack Re Kanken from Fjällräven — Backpack from Fjällräven
Eleven PET bottles are hidden in this stylish outdoor rucksack. The fabric of the product consists of 95 per cent recycled polyester. The fabric of the rucksack is recyclable. Image: Fjällräven

daff placemat — Hard-wearing placemats Five recycled PET bottles can protect a table from stains. That's how many bottles are in the „Fiberixx“ placemats from Daff. The bottle becomes a soft fleece product. Image: daff

Gardinia pleated blind — Pleated blinds from Gardinia Six recycled PET bottles make one square metre of privacy and sun protection in front of the window. Gardinia manufactures its pleated blinds with the „Planet“ fabric variant entirely from rPET. Image: Gardinia

Recycled Pet Pen from Uma — Biros from Uma Uma offers a retractable biros with a transparent barrel colour. It is designed to be particularly durable. The fact that the writing instrument is made from recycled PET bottles from Europe ensures that it is also sustainable. Image: Uma

Fröscher chair klif — Chair made of PP and PET This chair from „klif“ requires sorted recycled material and will later be sorted by type. The mesh covering of the chair was made from 100 per cent rPET, all plastic surfaces from recycled polypropylene. Image: Fröscher

Bag R123 Woolf from Freitag The outer material of the „R123 Woolf“ bag from manufacturer Freitag, which looks like a handbag but also like a duffel bag, is made from lorry tarpaulin. PET from the recycling loop is used 100 per cent for the inner lining. Picture: Freitag

However, the potential of recycled PET has not yet been exhausted. The plastics industry association has compiled a list that does not claim to be exhaustive. In addition to the everyday items mentioned here, rPET is also used in "technical textiles" - which in turn are used in mattresses, in the automotive sector or in the construction industry.