Recycling of PET bottles, to become obligatory in April 1997, is now in full swing. The first PET bottle recycling plant went into operation in Tochigi Prefecture in 1993, and is scheduled to be followed by the startup of a second plant in Mie Prefecture in the spring of 1997. The Mie plant will be a joint investment by private industry, including manufacturers of resin molds and beverages, and waste product disposal and recycling interests. Eight such plants are expected to be in operation throughout the country by 2005, with the aim of recycling 40% of PET bottles used domestically.
Opportunities for Recycling Into Clothing, Other Products
"PET" is an abbreviation for polyethylene terephthalate, also the raw material for polyester fiber. Bottles using this substance were first produced in the United States., where their use quickly spread as cheap, light and unbreakable containers. First introduced in Japan as an alternative to glass in the late seventies, they have since become an integral part of everyday life, used as containers for soft drinks, soy sauce, and liquid detergent. The production of PET resin for bottles continues to grow annually, having reached an estimated 180,000 tons in 1995.
Recycling has been considered possible in theory, but tough hurdles such as high costs and a lack of avenues for using the processed substance have made it difficult to put into practice. Most PET bottles have thus been disposed of as waste, but their bulky nature and resistance to decomposition, among other aspects, has caused headaches for local government authorities responsible for waste disposal.
However, over the last few years a method has been developed for recycling the bottles into raw material for fiber to manufacture clothing, improving prospects for recycling.
Reconversion to PET Resin at Recycling Plants
These circumstances led to the opening of the Tochigi Prefecture recycling plant as a private concern. PET bottles collected in around 120 towns and cities, mainly in the Kanto region, are transported to the plant. After the bottles have been sorted, stripped of foreign objects, cleaned, dried, and then crushed at the plant, they are finally reduced to PET resin, refined into flake form for use as a raw material in the manufacture of recycled products. During slow periods the plant processes somewhat less than 200 tons of PET bottles per month, a figure that swells to more than 300 tons during the high-volume months of summer.
The plant is able to operate on a commercial basis by buying up empty PET bottles delivered by different municipalities and then selling the processed flakes to various manufacturers. The flakes are currently used mainly for textiles and molded products, but possibilities for reuse look set to expand further.
The second plant, to be established in Mie Prefecture, will operate in a similar fashion.
(The above article, edited by Japan Echo Inc., is based on domestic Japanese news sources. It is offered for reference purposes and does not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.)