Applications of PET

PET resin (excluding textile grade PET resin) is predominantly used for making bottles. An
estimated 96-97% of PET resin goes into making bottles for various applications. There rest is
used for manufacturing sheets, straps, masterbatch, monofilament/injection molding.

PET bottles

Even in bottling applications, there are various sub-categories based on the end use. The table
below gives a break up of end uses (of PET bottles). Also given are estimated time it takes for a
PET bottle (after it is filled with liquids) to reach the waste stream—one could term this
‘Factory-to-Dustbin’ time or the time it takes for a typical PET bottle for a given application to
reach its consumer and for the consumer to discard the bottle into the waste stream.

Other applications of PET

Straps: PET straps are used in packaging, baling, and for various applications in industry. A
small percentage of PET produced goes into making these straps. PET straps are a convenient
alternative to metal wires and other such packaging aids.

Sheets: PET sheets are widely used in packaging a range of products such as consumer products,
pharmaceuticals, food & beverages, engineering items. If you have bought strawberries in
season, you must be familiar with the transparent packaging it come in—it is made of PET
sheets.

Masterbatch: A small percentage of PET is used in making masterbatches—where a high

concentration of pigments and other additives are incorporated into the PET resin, and typically
used to impart color into the raw polymer during the production/processing.

Monofilament: PET monofilament is mainly used for making mesh fabrics for screen-printing,
filter for oil and sand filtration, bracing wires for agricultural applications (greenhouses etc.),
woven/knitting belt, filter cloth, and other such industrial applications.