Page 61 - Plastics News December 2025
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IN THE NEWS
are 50+ medium-to-large scale manufacturing material for cushions, pillows and converted to
units using washed flakes of ‘Recycled PET’ fabrics for use in clothing, upholstery. These
products include “T-shirts, caps, jackets, scarfs,
Trends in usage of Recycled PET resin in In- carry bags” etc. Just for instance, the Indian
dia: The Use of ‘Recycled PET’ is allowed by BIS cricket team’s apparel is made from recycled
for packaging of ‘Non-Food Items’ in India. The PET bottles. Some of the other applications in In-
major FMCG producers (non-Food) have started dia are for “non-woven (for automobile, carpets,
using ‘RPET’ resin and the initial target is 30% boot liner, Headliner), synthetic leather, fiber fill-
RPET in 25-26. The RPET has been approved by ing, spun yarn and textiles’’. It is encouraging to
FSSAI for use in direct food contact end-uses. note that companies like Adidas, Nike and few
Some of the major brand-owners are already others make athletic merchandise from recy-
using B-to-B PET resin for packaging of Water, cled polyester in India. This makes their brand
CSD (Carbonated Soft Drinks), Liquor & other more ‘Greener’ (Circular) & it helps command a
products in India. The ‘Consistent Availability of premium over their regular products. In the non-
Quality RPET resin’ is the key. PET is the first ma- bottle area, RPET sheet usages include ‘Blister
terial of choice, due to its ease of recyclability & Packaging of Toothbrushes/Battery cells/Toi-
the established PET recycling systems. letries’ etc. both for the domestic as well as for
the export markets by major brand-owners. It
Challenges: One of the major challenges is has been enabled by collaboration between all
‘Traceability’. One of the key differentiators in
recycling ecosystem is the assurance of ‘Trace- the stake holders including the major Indian PET
raw material manufacturers, sheet suppliers,
ability’. The move is thus towards Digitalization
and Block-Chain/AI driven SCM of RPET bottles. thermoformers/FFS companies along with the
brand-owners & machinery suppliers.
The brand-owners & regulatory bodies are now
paying far more attention in this regard & it will Machinery: As Quality of recycled chips depend
further improve the Quality of recycled chips. on all the process steps, so there is sure shift in
The other major challenge is the availability of the Indian mind-set towards high-end recycling
consistent quality rPET material. There are con- machines for the new recycling projects in India,
cerns on IV & ‘Lab’ values. It is being addressed so as to get further improved Quality of recycled
by improvising different steps in mechanical PET chips. Technical alliances both at the Indian
recycling; including both the sorting & washing & Global level for ‘Recycling’ machinery are in
processes. offing & many such machines are being made in
India with foreign collaboration. Ishitva Robotic
Applications: The different end-uses of RPET in
India include “Fiber Fill, non-Woven, POY, PSF, Systems Pvt. Ltd. have made some significant in-
monofilament, Bottles for Food and non-food roads in sorting machines for handling the mixed
applications, Sheets, Strap, Injection moulding, plastic waste including PET.
Masterbatches” among others. It has more ap- Promotion: There has been quite a spurt in in-
plications in ‘non-Bottle’ end-uses, esp. the fiber stallation of ‘Reverse Vending Machines’ (RVM)
industry. The polyester fiber is used as a filling in the last 7-8 years with the concerted efforts
December 2025 PLASTICS NEWS 61
