A revolutionary breakthrough in plastic waste management: a cheaper and cleaner process for recycling PET has been developed

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 07. 04. 11:31

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American and British researchers have developed a new method for recycling the world’s most commonly used plastic, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), which is not only more environmentally friendly than traditional methods, but also more economical – writes hvg.hu following an article by Interesting Engineering.

Plastic pollution is causing a serious environmental crisis worldwide: hundreds of millions of tons of plastic are released into nature every year, while the recycling rate is still low. Now, however, researchers from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the University of Portsmouth in England, and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have achieved a breakthrough.

The key: simple chemical change, huge impact

In the new process, the researchers made a seemingly small but key modification: they replaced the sodium hydroxide used to break down the plastic with ammonium hydroxide. This simple change has enabled the creation of a self-sustaining recycling cycle that offers significant benefits:

99% less chemical use,
65% lower energy requirements,
75% lower cost compared to previous processes.

Better than the original?

According to the researchers, recycled PET with this technology is not only more environmentally friendly than petroleum-based production, but also cheaper. This is the first known process that offers an economically competitive alternative to the production of new plastic. What’s more, its carbon footprint is also unprecedentedly low: 99 percent less than that of traditional plastic production.