Rio de Janeiro – Petrobras’ researchers are developing a technology that would speed up and complete the degradation process of the polymer material of PET bottles in up to seven days. The technology developed by the Petrobras Research and Development Center (CENPES) uses enzymes that allow the process to recover the components of the bottles, under mild pressure and temperature.
The research began four years ago and are in a stage that allows to “envision the technical feasibility to use the process in large-scale.” One of the main culprits for the degradation of the environment, particularly of the marine ecosystem, the global production of PET bottles is estimated to be of 50 million tons per year, with the recycling percentage standing at 18%.
In Brazil, according to data from the last census by the Brazilian PET Industry Association (ABIPET), responsible for surveying of statistics on plastic, the disposal of used packaging reached 550,000 tons per year, with the recycling rate reaching 51%. “Which leads to the conclusion that the non-recycled portion in the country results in a PET waste of 270,000 tons,” stated Petrobras.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
