PETfection
Lead Organization: Aalborg University
Project Period: December 2022 – November 2025
Pool: TRACE Pool 1
Project Status: Finalized
The vision is to demonstrate viable, circular value chains and implementation pathways for recycling of household waste plastics, and that such implementation can substantially support the Danish recycling requirements and CO2 reduction targets.
The need is clear; many tons of PET are incinerated and thus there is a huge recycling potential. Utilizing this potential is hampered by additives (e.g.pigments) in the postconsumer PET. In addition, PET fractions are increasing in waste streams as it substitutes PE and PP food containers, which in turn increases the unutilized potential.
Currently, knowledge and correlations between viability, implementation, input and output, post purification steps and potentials for substituting PET made from pristine resources are unknown. Hence, further exploration is needed. The challenge is to obtain high purity fractions for both mechanical and chemical recycled. We aim to tackled this challenges by establishing the knowledge link and input/output requirements from one process to another throughout the value chain.
Participating Partners: Aalborg University, Aarhus University, Roskilde University, Dansk Affaldsminimering, Dansk Affaldsforening, Geminor, Plastindustrien,
PETfection Demonstrates Scalable Chemical Recycling of PET Waste
The PETfection project has demonstrated a viable and scalable water-based chemical recycling pathway for post-consumer PET waste. Through collaboration between AAU Energy (AAU), Aarhus University (AU), and Roskilde University (RUC), as academic partners, and Dansk Affaldsminimering ApS (DAM), GEMINOR, and Cirkulær as industry partners, PETfection established an integrated value chain from waste sorting to depolymerization and repolymerization, producing high-quality recycled PET (rPET) and monomers (BHET) with properties comparable to virgin materials.
Key technological advances include improved PET recovery from mixed plastic waste, the development of a continuous hydrothermal depolymerization process, and efficient monomer purification and repolymerization. These innovations confirm the technical feasibility of producing high-purity recycled PET from household waste streams. The project further assessed the environmental and economic performance of the process through techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment, demonstrating significant potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil-based PET production, while highlighting remaining cost challenges.
Overall, PETfection provides a strong proof-of-concept for circular PET recycling and delivers important technological and system-level insights. The results support the transition toward a circular plastics economy, while underlining the need for further scale-up, optimization, and supportive regulatory conditions to enable industrial implementation.
Overall results
The PETfection project has generated new knowledge and technological solutions across the PET recycling value chain, addressing key challenges related to feedstock quality, process efficiency, material recovery, and product quality. The project focused on developing and validating an integrated approach to chemical recycling of post-consumer PET waste, supported by industrial sourcing of Danish household plastic waste; experimental work on PET depolymerization, monomer recovery, purification, and repolymerization; as well as process modelling and sustainability assessment. Across the value chain, several key technological and knowledge developments were achieved.
The following studies have been published as part of the Trace-project PETfection:
- A. Jaime-Azuara, T.H. Pedersen, R. Wimmer. Process Optimization by NMR-Assisted Investigation of Chemical Pathways during Depolymerization of PET in Subcritical Water. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2GC04831K
- A. Jaime-Azuara, E. Longo, E. Boselli, M. Baratieri, T.H. Pedersen. Exploratory DSC Investigation on the Solvolytic Depolymerization of PET in Varied Solvent Systems and in the Presence of Model Additives and Contaminants. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2024.110751
- A. Jaime-Azuara, M. Lemming, R. Wimmer, K. Kohansal, M. Hinge, T.H. Pedersen. Continuous Hydrothermal Processing of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) (PET) under Subcritical Water Conditions: A Proof-of-Principle Closed-Loop Study. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.153223
- A-S. H. Mahler, M. Lemming, A. Jaime-Azuara, T. H. Pedersen, M. Hinge. Chemical Recycling of Polymer Contaminated Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) by Neutral Hydrolysis. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2024.11.028
- A. Shabbir, K. Sharma, R. Wimmer, T.H. Pedersen, D. Castello, A. Jaime-Azuara. Aqueous phase recirculation as a water management strategy and its effect on chemical recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) by neutral hydrothermal processing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2025.115254
- E. Lozano Sanchez, A. Jaime-Azuara, A. Shabbir, A. Somoza-Tornos, T.H. Pedersen. Assessing the techno-economic and environmental feasibility of PET chemical recycling via neutral hydrolysis.
- A-S. H. Mahler, M. Lemming, A. Jaime-Azuara, T. H. Pedersen, M. Hinge. Chemical recycling of pigment contaminated poly(ethylene terephthalate) by neutral hydrolysis. In progress
- J. R. Jensen, A-S. H. Mahler , M. Lemming , A. Jaime-Azuara, T. H. Pedersen, M. Hinge. Chemical recycling of organic contaminated poly(ethylene terephthalate) by neutral hydrolysis. In progress
- A. Shabbir, J. R. Jensen, R. Wimmer, Mogens Hinge,T.H. Pedersen, D. Castello, A. Jaime-Azuara. Water management in chemical recycling of PET waste to BHET monomer by neutral hydrolysis. In progress
- A. Shabbir, E. Lozano Sanchez, A. Jaime-Azuara, T.H. Pedersen, D. Castello, A. Somoza-Tornos. Assessing the environmental performance of neutral hydrothermal processing of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) (PET) with aqueous phase recirculation as a water management strategy. In progress
Project Leader
Thomas Helmer Pedersen
Mail: thp@energy.aau.dk
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