Polyethylene terephthalate glycol, or commonly known as PETG, is a thermoplastic polyester that provides excellent clarity, chemical resistance and durability for use in thermoformed rigid packaging applications. This widely used material is a glycol-modified form Polyethylene Terephthalate, or PET, and is used extensively in rigid medical packaging applications. Below are 6 important facts about PETG:
- PETG is a glycol-modified PET: PETG is a glycol-modified copolymer of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). However, instead of adding an additional glycol during the manufacturing process, the Ethylene Glycol (EG) monomer is replaced with a different glycol monomer, Cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM).
- PETG offers improvements vs PET: The CHDM glycol-modification process used to produce PETG prevents crystallization and hazing, resulting in a clear amorphous polymer with a lower heat distortion temperature, but an increased glass transition temperature, resulting in a slightly higher temperature resistance. As a result, PETG exhibits increased impact resistance, and results in an overall stronger and more durable material when compared to PET. PETG also offers increased flexibility vs PET resulting in a material that can be extruded, thermoformed or molded into a wide variety of products.
- PETG is highly versatile: Because of the ease of forming, clarity and aesthetics of PETG materials, PETG is one of the most widely used types of plastic available and can be used in a variety of food, medical, pharmaceutical and consumer goods applications including:
- Drink bottles
- Medical implants & braces
- Medical device & pharmaceutical packaging
- Material used in 3D printers
- Retail & POP displays
- Graphic displays & signage
- Electrical packaging
- Blister packaging
- Cosmetics & personal care packaging
PETG is sterilizable: PETG is widely used for rigid medical & pharmaceutical packaging in part due to its compatibility with various sterilization processes.
In medical packaging, effective decontamination using sophisticated sterilization techniques is a key step in preventing the introduction or transmission of potentially dangerous pathogenic organisms and diseases to the medical device and, in turn, to the patient. Hence, this is a critical specification for materials to meet in order to be considered suitable for use in medical packaging.
PETG, therefore, offers compatibility with sterilization techniques commonly used in the medical industry including EtO, Gamma, and E-Beam Radiation sterilization methods. PETG is not, however, compatible with autoclave sterilization- PETG is widely used in rigid medical packaging: The sterilizability of PETG combined with improved formability of the material makes it ideal for intricate trays packaging for the medical device and pharmaceutical markets.
The global PETG market size for Medical and Pharmaceutical Rigid Packaging was valued at USD 201.7 million in 2023 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7% during the forecast period, reaching USD 302.8 million by 2028. Most of this growth is attributable to extrusion and thermoforming including applications such as trays and blister for medical device packaging. - PETG cannot be recycled the same as PET: While PETG is part of the same material “family,” as the PET grade used in widely recyclable bottle applications, PETG is not considered recyclable with other RIC #1 materials because of the glycol-modification. This modification changes the plastics’ melting temperature, which makes it more difficult to recycle along with regular PET and can contaminate the recycling stream and even damage recycling machinery, so PETG is therefore not accepted at traditional curbside recycling programs.
However, there are sustainable options for PETG packaging. Packaging manufacturers and brand owners or medical OEMS concerned with the sustainability of their packaging can use grades of RPETG recycled through non-traditional methods such as a closed-loop system, where post-industrial recycled PETG is collected and incorporated at the extrusion level, or by purchasing RPETG resin recycled and reprocessed through chemical recycling processes.
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