PET bottles are one of the most widely distributed food containers in the world. Roughly one million PET bottles are sold worldwide per minute^*1, and while its convenience has resulted in day-to-day use in numerous countries, only a portion of these are recycled, leaving questions around its treatment after use. Meanwhile, with the exception of its caps and labels, PET bottles are composed entirely of a single material (PET), making it more apt for recycling.

Japan has one of the world’s highest rates of collection―of the roughly 640,000 tons^*2 of PET bottles sold annually, approximately 85%^*3 is collected/recycled. Much of the collected PET bottles are recycled into various other products like food trays and clothing (polyester fibers), and those regenerated once again as PET bottles only amount to roughly 34%^*4. These circumstances call for a new technology and initiative to “recycle PET bottles into PET bottles once again.”
Reference:
1: “A million bottles a minute: world’s plastic binge ‘as dangerous as climate change”, The Guardian, PUBLISHED JUNE 28, 2017(The Council for PET Bottle Recycling)
2,3,4: 2024 PET Bottle Recycling Annual Report (The Council for PET Bottle Recycling)