Choose The Right PET Recycling Route
Reliable PET recycling starts with the real input and target.
Material form, IV, moisture, contamination and target application all influence the right PET processing route.
MAS compares regranulation, SSP and HyperPET options to define the process stages needed for your material and required output quality.
PET Recycling—The Decision In Short
First establish the material history and analytical baseline: form/source, wash and sorting history, IV, AA, moisture, contamination, colour and variability. Next define the required product and application, including throughput and any jurisdiction-specific requirements. Then compare the simplest suitable route: direct regranulation/extrusion; extrusion followed by SSP; or pre-extrusion SSP integrated in HyperPET. Confirm the route with representative PET, agreed test methods, acceptance criteria and documented regulatory responsibilities.
Three PET Routes — Which One Is Yours?
| rPET Regran | rPET SSP | iQonicTwin HyperPET | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use it when |
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| Process stages | Extrusion → degassing → filtration → pelletizing | Regran route + solid-state polycondensation after extrusion | Crystalliser → MOBY IR reactor under vacuum → extrusion → filtration → pelletizing | |||
| IV handling | Preserved | Increased and stabilised post-extrusion | Adjusted to target before extrusion | |||
| Typical input | Clean flakes, edge trim, production scrap, regrind | Post-consumer flakes with degraded IV | Washed post-consumer bottle flakes; tray flakes | |||
| Typical output |
| Food-grade rPET pellets for demanding packaging applications |
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| Throughput range | up to 6000 kg/h | up to 6000 kg/h | up to 3000 kg/h |
Not sure which column you are in? That is what a material test answers. Send your flakes and we measure IV, moisture and contamination before anyone quotes a line.
Start With Your Real PET Input
The input decides the line. These are the four PET streams MAS builds around most often, and what each one demands from the process.
Post-Consumer Bottle Flakes
The challenge: Washed flakes arrive with residual moisture and an IV already reduced by the first life cycle. Melting them wet drops the IV further.
What the line does: Vacuum degassing during extrusion, tight residence-time control, and SSP or HyperPET where bottle-grade IV is the target.
Goes into: Bottle-to-bottle, sheet, strapping, fibre.
Tray And Sheet Flakes
The challenge: Mixed IV levels, multilayer structures, PE sealing layers and adhesives that do not belong in the melt.
What the line does: Homogenisation across varying IV plus melt filtration sized for the contamination profile. The HyperPET route targets tray-to-bottle applications.
Goes into: New trays, sheet, and — via HyperPET — bottle-grade material.
Edge Trim And Production Scrap
The challenge: Clean and known, but low bulk density and generated continuously — it has to go somewhere without buffering.
What the line does: Direct or prepared feeding into extrusion, with the option to return melt in-line rather than re-pelletising it.
Goes into: The same sheet or film line it came from, or pellets.
Regrind, Pellets And PET Blends
The challenge: Already once-processed material with an accumulated thermal history, plus additives or fillers in compounding projects.
What the line does: Low-shear reprocessing that adds as little thermal history as possible, with dosing for additives where required.
Goes into: Application-specific PET compounds and technical products.
iQonicTwin HyperPET: Polycondensation Before Extrusion
Most food-grade PET lines run solid-state polycondensation after extrusion. HyperPET inverts that order. rPET flakes are pre-heated and dried in a crystalliser, then pass into the MOBY reactor, where infrared radiation under vacuum reduces moisture and lifts the IV to the level the target application requires. Only then does the material reach the extruder — carrying its own stored heat, which lowers extrusion energy demand and raises throughput.
The practical consequence: conventional food-grade recycling is a bottle-to-bottle process. HyperPET is built to extend that to tray-to-bottle. Developed with PET recycling specialist Christian Schiavolin as part of the MAS iQonicTwin series.
This image was generated using AI based on an original 3D rendering of MAS equipment. It is illustrative; some details may differ from the actual machine.
Why Conical Twin-Screw Extrusion Suits PET
PET is unforgiving about thermal and mechanical history. The conical co-rotating geometry gives a large intake volume that tapers towards the die, so flakes are drawn in gently and melted over a short processing length. Low shear and a short, narrow residence-time distribution mean less chain scission — the mechanism behind IV loss. The large melt surface in the degassing zone lets vacuum remove moisture and volatiles that would otherwise drive hydrolytic degradation during melting.
Short Residence Time
Less time at melt temperature means less IV loss across the process.
Effective Vacuum Degassing
Large melt surface removes moisture and volatiles before they degrade the polymer.
Reduced Pre-Drying
In many configurations, separate pre-drying can be reduced or omitted, depending on input moisture, throughput and output requirements. This is confirmed through material testing.
Energy per Kilogram
0.32 kWh/kg in typical PET configurations — compare against your current line.
No nitrogen required for the application.
From Sample To Line—A PET Project With Decision Gates
Material And Application Assessment
Confirm representative sample, history, IV, AA, moisture, contamination, colour, variability, throughput, application and jurisdiction. Agree what decision the test must support.
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Comparative Trial Plan
Select the routes to compare, test conditions, measurements, sample quantity and pass/fail criteria before running trials.
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Route And Line Configuration
Use results to select preparation, extrusion, SSP, filtration, pelletising and controls. Document limits, scale-up assumptions, utilities, interfaces and guarantees.
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Commissioning And Validation
Confirm installation, recipes, training, production window, output tests, responsibilities and final acceptance against the agreed material and criteria.
The Four Numbers That Decide rPET Quality
| Parameter | Why It Decides The Application | What The Line Does About It |
|---|---|---|
| Intrinsic Viscosity (IV) | Sets mechanical strength and processability. Bottle grade needs a higher IV than fibre or strapping. | Short residence time and controlled thermal history limit loss; SSP or the MOBY reactor raise it where needed. |
| Moisture | Water in the melt drives hydrolytic degradation — the fastest way to lose IV. | Crystallisation and drying upstream, vacuum degassing in the extruder. |
| Acetaldehyde (AA) | Migrates into contents and affects taste — critical for beverage applications. | Limited thermal load plus vacuum removal of volatiles; SSP reduces it further. |
| Colour And Solid Contamination | b* value and black specks decide whether the pellet is saleable into packaging. | Gentle processing to avoid yellowing, plus CDF melt filtration sized to the contamination profile. |
Food-Contact And Other Regulated PET Applications
Worth being precise about who holds what. Under EU Regulation 2022/1616, a recycling process is authorised — not a machine. The authorisation is held by the operator, based on an EFSA opinion covering the specific input material, the critical process steps and their operating parameters, and a challenge test demonstrating decontamination efficiency.
What MAS contributes: a line whose critical steps — temperature, residence time, pressure and vacuum level — are controlled, documented and reproducible, so they can be specified and defended in your dossier. The HyperPET configuration is designed specifically around food-grade PET requirements. We work alongside your regulatory route rather than replacing it, and can provide the process data your submission needs.
What PET Processors Say
The conical shape is very advantageous when melting the material, where with little shear and very short dwell time, the material is damaged as little as possible.
Arjan Van Kempen, CEO – Cumapol (NL)
Technologies In A MAS PET Line
Related Technologies
iQonicTwin HyperPET
Crystalliser plus MOBY infrared vacuum reactor ahead of extrusion, for bottle-grade and tray-to-bottle rPET.
Conical Twin-Screw Extruder
Low-shear melting, homogenisation and vacuum degassing over a short residence time — the core of every MAS PET line.
CDF Melt Filtration
Continuous melt filtration technology for efficiently removing contaminants from polymer melts and ensuring consistent material quality.
Technical Test Center
MAS 24 and MAS 55 laboratory extruders run your PET on small quantities before any line is specified.
Send Us Your PET, Not Just Your Brief
Provide a representative PET sample plus material history, form/source, wash/sorting route, starting IV, AA, moisture, contamination, colour, variability, current process, required throughput, target application and jurisdiction. MAS will compare feasible regranulation, downstream-SSP and HyperPET routes, identify limitations, define the trial and analytical plan and agree acceptance criteria for the next decision.
