Global production and consumption
of poly(ethylene terephthalate)
(PET) products has increased dramatically over the past few decades.
World consumption of PET has exceeded 13 million tonnes, of which
about 1.5 million tonnes is exclusively consumed by the packaging
sector itself. However, this tremendous increase in PET consumption
has resulted in the accumulation of an enormous quantity of waste,
the disposal of which is complex day by day. Among different PET recycling
methods, chemical recycling (chemolysis) is the most successful method
to convert PET into its monomers/oligomers. This review presents in
detail recent developments in the chemical recycling (glycolysis and
aminolysis) of PET. The wide spectrum of depolymerizing agents used,
the reaction conditions, catalysts, products of depolymerization,
and their potential applications are described.