Bottle-to-bottle recycling planned in Japan. (Nonmetallics).

Teijin Ltd., a producer of synthetic fibers based in Tokyo, has announced plans to produce materials for new PET bottles that will be made from used PET bottles. The company is billing it as the first such operation in the world.

The new plants will enable the company to recycle PET bottles by using technologies developed by Teijin to produce high-quality terephthalic acid. The company says it is applying for 15 patents for the new technologies.

One process at the plant will convert old bottles into dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) that will be compatible with DMT made from petroleum. The next process will convert this DMT into high-grade terephthalic acid (TPA), with the final step converting this TPA into PET resin that can be used to make new bottles.

Part of the overall process includes separation techniques to remove other plastic polymers contained in caps or labels, as well as any foil or metal contaminants.

Both the use of and disposal of PET bottles has been rising in Japan. Demand for PET bottles rose to nearly 400,000 tons in 2001, compared to slightly more than 330,000 tons in 1999.

The Teijin plants will have an annual recycling capacity of 30,000 tons of PET bottles, and will be able to produce about 24,000 tons of DMT. The company plans to double plant capacity by the end of 2003.