GR3N starts depolymerizing PET in demonstration plant

The chemical recycling start-up GR3N has opened a demonstration-scale plant for depolymerizing polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The firm uses microwave-assisted alkaline hydrolysis to break PET down into terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol, monomers that can be recombined into new PET. GR3N says that, unlike mechanical recycling and some chemical recycling methods, its process tolerates purities as low as 70% and can handle both PET bottles and textiles. The plant, in northern Italy, can process 60 kg of PET per hour.