Polyester is everywhere, from the plastic packaging in which we wrap our food, to the bottles which hold our drinks, to the shirts on our backs. Creating, tempering, extruding and finishing the polymer is a global growth industry. Polyester’s versatility and scalability means we expect demand growth to continue at 4-5% for the next five years, driven primarily by Asian fibre markets.
As demand continues to grow and the polymer gains market share, producers and consumers are asking: can polyester production be sustainable?
This is a more complex question than it may appear to be, owing to multiple challenges, at each stage of the production chain.