There are several approaches to dealing with the problem of waste disposal, in particular waste generated by plastics. These approaches include source reduction, recycling, incineration and landfills. Recycling is considered the best option to reducing the volume of solid waste, second only to source reduction (which is accomplished by generating less packaging in the first place and/or reusing it in the same service). Recycling reduces landfill requirements and the consumption of virgin material resources. One of the most important factors in these energy-conscious times is the energy required to recycle many materials is substantially less than the energy consumed in producing them from virgin resources. The empty PET packaging discarded by the consumer after use, becomes PET waste. In the recycling industry, this is referred to as "post-consumer PET". As per Wikipedia, many local governments and waste collection agencies have started to collect post-consumer PET separately from other household waste. The collected post-consumer PET is taken to recycling centres known as materials recovery facilities (MRF) where it is sorted and separated from other materials such as metal, objects made out of other rigid plastics, flexible plastics such as those used for bags (generally low density polyethylene), drink cartons, glass, and anything else which is not made out of PET. Post-consumer PET is often sorted into different color fractions, and into a mixed colors fraction. This sorted post-consumer PET waste is crushed, pressed into bales and offered for sale to recycling companies. Transparent post-consumer PET attracts higher sales prices compared to the blue and green fractions. The mixed colour fraction is the least valuable. The Further treatment process includes crushing, washing, separating and drying. Recycling companies further treat the post-consumer PET by shredding the material into small fragments. These fragments still contain residues of the original content, shredded paper labels and plastic caps. These are removed by different processes, resulting in pure PET fragments or PET flakes. PET flakes are used as the raw material for a range of products that would otherwise be made of polyester. Examples include polyester fibres (a base material for the production of clothing, pillows, carpets, etc.), polyester sheets, strapping, or PET bottles, etc. Melt filtration is typically used to remove contaminants from polymer melts during the extrusion process. There is a mechanical separation of the contaminants within a machine called a ‘screen changer’ a typical system will consist of a steel housing with the filtration media contained in moveable pistons or slide plates that enable the processor to remove the screens from the extruder flow without stopping production. The contaminants are usually collected on woven wire screens which are supported on a stainless steel plate called a ‘breaker plate’ a strong circular piece of steel drilled with large holes to allow the flow of the polymer melt. For the recycling of polyester it is typical to integrate a screen changer into the extrusion line. This can be in a pelletizing, sheet extrusion or strapping tape extrusion line. As per Chemsystems (Nexant Inc.), recycling of plastics bottles lends credence to the argument that the “feedstock” energy is not actually consumed but merely “borrowed”, (available for use again). In particular, the rapid success of PET soft drink bottles created a great deal of controversy over the energy implications of bottle disposal. Post consumer plastics recycling technologies have evolved from traditional plastics processing and/or industrial scrap molding technologies. The challenge has been to modify these technologies to accept heterogeneous mixtures of plastic resins, normally incompatible with one another, and to tolerate contamination by various non-plastic materials. The recycling technologies available today can be divided into four broad categories: • Separation that mechanically segregate distinct resins from a mixed plastic stream • Mixed plastic that use the mixed plastic stream as is • PET recycling for beverage bottles • Washing/upgrading for previously sorted plastics (e.g., HDPE dairy bottles) Separation technologies Separation technologies segregate high value (high volume) plastics from other plastics. The system first separates the mixed plastics from contaminants (paper, glass, metals, dirt, etc.). Once separated, the mixed plastics are chopped or granulated, followed by washing, separating by the sink/float process (difference in density) or hydrocycloning (centripetal acceleration separation by density), drying and pelletization. The pellets are cooled and dried, again producing an end product ready for shipment as feedstock to make new products. A typical mixed waste stream would have a polyolefin fraction of 60-80%, 15-30% heavier plastics (PVC, ABS, polystyrene, PET), and 5% aluminum, paper, and other inorganics. The recycling of PET, primarily from beverage bottles, has progressed faster than for the other plastics with most of the PET being recycled for fiber applications (such as carpets and textiles). In 2008, the United States recycled approximately 3.7% of the plastics that were generated, where about 27% constituted PET bottles and jars and 29% HDPE natural bottles. Superclean (Physical): Secondary Recycling The recycle of PET bottles is normally done by sorting and washing the bottles, grinding into flakes, washing the flakes, removal of labels and caps, and drying the flakes. An optional step (which depends on the end use application) includes melting or extruding the flakes into PET pellets. The rPET produced this way is suitable for fibers and non-food contact bottle applications. If the flakes are intended for the manufacture of bottles utilized in food applications then the normal process would require an extra step in which volatile contaminants are removed while at the same time increasing the intrinsic viscosity of the flake. In this case, the recycling process is referred as a “Superclean” process. Feedstock (Chemical): Tertiary Recycling Involves chemical or thermal manipulation to process a stream of PET waste. The chemical structure of the PET break downs (known as depolymerization) and reverts back to the basic monomers or oligomers, which can then be purified and recombined to produce new PET resin. The development (and further commercialization) of PET recycling process are highly dependent on the economics of such processes. Unfavorable economics, when compared to the production of virgin PET resins, as well as market conditions are often the determinant factors for the introduction of new PET recycling process. The issue of sufficient feedstock is also key to the success of any recycling venture. The recycler is concerned not only with the source of the material but must also consider the costs involved in bringing this material to the processing location. As the recycling business expands, the competition for feedstocks intensifies. Several cases have been considered for the production of PET. These cases do not necessarily represent any one specific technology owner, but rather, represent “state-of-the-art” processes. Additionally, it has been assumed that the baled PET post consumer PET bottles consist of clear PET bottles.