rPET (recycled PET)

rPET is PET recovered from post-consumer bottles (and, less commonly, trays and fibre) and returned to use as flake or pellet. The commercial ladder runs: hot-washed flake in clear, light-blue, green or mixed colour — the universal intermediate; fibre-grade pellet for spinning; and food-grade pellet, which must pass through an authorised super-clean decontamination process before it may touch food packaging.

Buyers specify IV (typically 0.70–0.82 dl/g), moisture below 1%, and ppm limits for PVC, polyolefins, metals and glass. Colour fraction drives price: clear flake commands the premium because it can become anything. Certification (RecyClass, EuCertPlast, GRS) plus a batch declaration stating post-consumer content is what makes rPET count toward the UK Plastic Packaging Tax exemption at 30% recycled content. Classified HS 3907.61 when traded as product with an agreed specification.