Saturday, March 15, 2014

Polyethylene Terephthalate: Some Interesting Facts

By Lenna Stockwell


Polyethylene terephthalate may sound unfamiliar to many people but when you discover the things produced out of this thermoplastic polymer you are likely to recognize them. Basic information about this particular plastic can be uncovered if you really want to learn about it.

As a kind of polyester, PET is actually the most common polymer in the polyester family. It is the kind of thermoplastic that is a polymer which when exposed to heat at a particular temperature becomes "moldable." It is rather easy to find thermoplastic that may be in different types and the most commons ones are used for custom thermoplastic packaging which includes retail product packaging, food packaging that is custom-made and several other custom product packaging for the medical industry as well as the agricultural industry.

Primarily, PET or PETE, as what polyethylene is commonly known to be, is used to create containers for food, beverages and other kinds of liquids. Several of the water bottles or soda bottles are created from PET. It was eyed by companies because of its water-resistant capability thus enabling the containment of liquid. Being lightweight allows for less expensive transportation too.

PET is also found to create products like the sails in sailboats but for this product it is often called by the brand name Dacron. This then gives birth to the manufacture of all kinds of polyester clothing. Even when the processing of the polymers differs according to what the products to be produced require of, both water bottles and a piece of clothing can be made from polyethylene terephthalate.

While majority of the thermoplastics are recyclable bottles made from PET are the most commonly recycles kind of thermoplastic. Their resin code is either of 1 or 01. It is easy to find recycling centers around the country accepting the bottles and containers with such resin codes.

Once they enter the recycling process, these PET bottles are chopped up into flakes and then reduced down to tiny pellets. This can be used to create polyester threads to make fabric and carpeting. PET also can be recycled and used to make strapping, new water or soda bottles and other plastic products.




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