New plant-based PET from Teijin
10/12/2010
The new fibre will be called Eco Circle PlantFiber and the Japanese company is aimining to have companies in the apparel industry among those using it. It said it expects to sell 30,000 tonnes of Eco Circle PlantFiber products in the first year and 70,000 tonnes a year within three years.
Biofuels derived from biomass will make up around 30% of the new fibre's composition.
In a statement making the announcement, Teijin said: “Conventional PET typically is made by polymerising ethylene glycol (EG) and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) or telephthalic acid (PTA), with EG accounting for roughly 30%. The EG contained in Eco Circle PlantFiber is bio-derived rather than oil-derived, so it helps to conserve fossil resources and lower greenhouse gas emissions. What’s more, Eco Circle PlantFiber has the same characteristics and quality of oil-derived PET, so it is suitable for use in many polyester products.”
Eco Circle PlantFiber also can be recycled using Teijin's Eco Circle closed-loop polyester recycling system. Polyester is chemically decomposed at the molecular level by the system and then recycled as new DMT that offers purity and quality comparable to material derived directly from petroleum, the company claims.
Share this story:
