BP Plans Pilot Plant To Test New Recycling Technology

About 27 tons of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, is used annually in packaging.

Do plastic bottles have nine lives? New technology from BP means they just might. According to an article from Reuters, BP plans to build a $25 million pilot plant next year to test new recycling technology that would allow plastic bottles to be recycled over and over. BP’s head of refining and petrochemicals, Tufan Erginbilgic, reportedly calls the technology a “game-changer” for the plastics recycling industry.

According to the article, about 27 tons of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, is used annually in packaging. Plastic bottles reportedly make up nearly 90% of that. PET is one of the most widely recycled plastics; however, only about 60% of PET used for bottles is recovered and the vast majority of that is only recycled once, according to Reuters. BP’s new technology, known as Infinia, turns used PET into feedstock, which reportedly allows it to be recycled repeatedly.

Read the entire article here.