November 25, 2024 – The color of PET bottles plays a pivotal role in determining their recycling value, as revealed by recent data from the Plastic Recycling Branch of the China Synthetic Resin Association.
The data indicates that clear, colorless bottles dominate the market for PET drinking water bottles, accounting for a staggering 72% of the total. Blue transparent bottles follow closely, with a share of around 25%. In the realm of PET beverage bottles, transparent ones make up an even higher proportion of 83%, while other colors such as blue, green, and milky white are also present. Notably, mixed-color bottles, often seen in shades like red-brown, reddish-brown, and black translucency, are more prevalent in beverage bottles.
These PET bottles, differing in color, find their way into various recycling streams with distinct end-uses. According to sources from the Color Masterbatch Industry Network, colorless bottle flakes, being of the highest grade, boast the widest range of recycling applications. They are primarily utilized in chemical fiber filaments and non-food contact packaging, including blow molding, sheet materials, and thermoforming products. Blue/colorless mixed flakes are mainly converted into chemical fiber short staples for home textile products, like three-dimensional and two-dimensional short fibers. Green flakes are commonly used in the production of strapping bands and also find application in areas such as ropes and nets, as well as geogrids. However, milky white and mixed-color flakes, due to their higher impurity content, have a more limited downstream scope, typically being used for black-colored or low-performance chemical fiber products.
Interestingly, in August 2022, the Sprite brand announced a gradual shift from its traditional green transparent PET bottle packaging to a more minimalist clear, colorless design. This move not only reduced costs and demonstrated the brand’s commitment to environmental protection but also significantly enhanced the recycling value of Sprite’s PET bottles. The colorless recycled PET can now be more extensively used in food packaging, including recycled PET sheets, vacuum forming, and bottle-to-bottle applications, thereby alleviating the shortage of food-grade recycled PET bottle sources in the market. In contrast, green bottles are often downgraded in recycling, finding use mainly in green strapping bands or construction materials like ropes and nets.
In conclusion, the color of PET bottles has a profound impact on their recycling value. By optimizing bottle color design, not only can recycling efficiency be improved, but also the application scope of recycled materials can be expanded, promoting the multiple recycling of PET materials and reducing the reliance on virgin plastic.