6. PET recycling

Most, if not all, recycled PET comes from packaging, which is easier to collect; the polymer is generally moderately polluted after use, unlike fibers, which are never pure (fillers, colorants, chillies, finishing products) and rarely used on their own (mixed with other fibers or in composites).

PET follows the classic recycling circuit (figure 7 ). It must first be separated from other plastics, generally PVC, polystyrene (PS), polyethylene (LDPE and HDPE) and polypropylene (PP).

The separation of PET from other plastics, or additional sorting, is less and less carried out manually; the operation is too costly. Automatic sorting processes...