Recycling of Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) into Feedstock Monomers

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the polymers with the most growing market with an estimated expansion rate of 8-10%. With increasing PET consumption, its recycling has received world wide attention for the preservation of resources and the protection of the environment. Saudi Arabia is one of the major producers of plastic in the world with total production capacity of around six million metric tons per year. It is assumed that the chemical recycling through depolymerization of PET into its monomer will be an ideal recycling method for Saudi Arabian waste PET because it could be recycled permanently. Several chemical degradation methods of PET were carried out in our laboratory under various conditions. Excellent feedstock monomers were obtained.