What's the difference between an RPET bottle and a PET bottle

RPET bottles and PET bottles have the following differences:
Raw material source
PET bottle: The raw material of PET bottle is polyethylene terephthalate, which is mainly extracted from terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol from fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas, and is made into polymer through chemical reaction.
RPET bottles: The raw material of RPET bottles is recycled PET bottles or other PET products. By recycling these discarded PET materials, after a series of treatments, they are remade into usable materials to produce RPET bottles.
Production technology
PET bottle: terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol are esterified or transesterification reaction to produce oligomers, and then oligomers are further polymerized through polycondensation reaction to form high-molecular weight PET resin, and then through injection molding, blow molding and other molding processes to make PET bottles.
RPET bottles: First collect and classify the recycled PET waste, and separate the waste of different colors and materials. Then the sorted PET bottles are cleaned to remove surface impurities, labels, oil, etc. After cleaning, the PET bottle is broken into small pieces, and then heated and melted to remove the residual impurities, and finally made into RPET particles by granulation process, and then made into RPET bottles by a molding process similar to PET bottles.
Performance characteristics
Transparency: PET bottles have extremely high transparency, which can clearly show the appearance and color of the contents. Due to the possibility of impurities or degradation in the recycling process, the transparency of RPET bottles may be slightly poor, and some RPET bottles will have slight fog or color changes, but by optimizing the recycling process and adding appropriate additives, RPET bottles can also achieve higher transparency.
Physical strength: PET bottle has good tensile strength, impact strength and hardness, can withstand a certain amount of pressure and external force. The physical strength of RPET bottles is generally similar to that of PET bottles, but if the quality of recycled materials is poor or the recycling process is improper, it may lead to a slight decrease in the strength of RPET bottles.
Barrier properties: PET bottles have good barrier properties for oxygen, water vapor, etc., and can effectively maintain the quality and shelf life of the contents. RPET bottles are basically equivalent to PET bottles in terms of barrier performance, but the barrier performance may fluctuate slightly in some cases due to factors in the recycling process.
Environmental impact
PET bottles: The production of PET bottles needs to consume a lot of fossil fuel resources, and if it is not properly recycled after use, it will become plastic waste, which is difficult to degrade in the natural environment, and may cause long-term pollution to soil and water.
RPET bottles: The use of RPET bottles can reduce the extraction of new fossil resources, reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. It helps to reduce the landfill and incineration of plastic waste, reduce the pressure on the environment, promote the recycling of plastics, in line with the concept of sustainable development.
Cost price
PET bottles: The production cost of PET bottles is relatively stable, mainly depending on the price of raw materials such as oil and production scale and other factors.
RPET bottles: The cost of RPET bottles is affected by factors such as the availability and price of recycled raw materials and the cost of the recycling process. Due to the additional equipment, manpower and energy input required for the recycling process, in some cases the price of RPET bottles may be higher than PET bottles, but as recycling technology advances and economies of scale emerge, the cost gap between the two is gradually narrowing.
Market application
PET bottle: widely used in beverage, food, cosmetics, medicine and other industries packaging. It is also used to make packaging pallets and films for some high-end electronic products.
RPET bottles: The application in the field of beverage and food packaging is gradually increasing, and some brands that pay attention to environmental protection will choose RPET bottles to package products to show their environmental image. It is also used in some packaging fields where the appearance requirements are not extremely high, such as some industrial product packaging and non-food liquid packaging.