rPET is recycled polyethylene terephthalate. It is made mostly from used PET bottles for water, soft drinks and edible oil, which carry resin code 1.
PET bottles are the most widely collected plastic packaging in India, because they have a high scrap value for waste pickers. The bottles are sorted by colour, ground into flakes, hot washed to remove labels and glue, and either used directly or processed into granules. Most rPET becomes polyester fibre for textiles, along with sheet for thermoformed trays and strapping. With approved decontamination it can become food-grade material for new bottles, known as bottle-to-bottle recycling. PET and polyolefins are separated early, by density separation, because PET sinks in water while polyethylene and polypropylene float.
