Buying clear PET flakes in Bangladesh
Clear PET flake is washed, ground bottle plastic sorted to the clear colour grade. Recyclers usually value it above coloured flake because it can be dyed after recycling. Buyers in Bangladesh and abroad turn it into polyester fibre, fibre fill, strapping, thermoformed packaging and, through an approved process, new bottles. A clear PET flake supplier in Bangladesh has to know which route your lot is for.
Roptan sources it for you. We match your limits to verified recyclers, compare quotes on the same colour grade, PVC limit and IV method, have a sample from the actual lot tested before loading, then deliver or ship. You deal with Roptan only.
How to brief a clear PET flake supplier in Bangladesh
- Colour limits
- State the colour grade, a limit for light blue and a separate, tighter limit for other colours, in percent by weight, counted on a lot sample.
- Intrinsic viscosity
- A minimum IV in dl/g with the method and edition, such as ASTM D4603-26 or ISO 1628-5. Recycled flake is not guaranteed to keep the bottle's IV.
- PVC and polyolefins
- Each limit in ppm. Two European recyclers' sheets set PVC at 5 ppm and under 50 ppm, a tenfold gap, so never accept a seller's default.
- Moisture at dispatch
- Usually 1% or less on recyclers' sheets, by weight loss at 105 °C. Say how water above the limit is deducted from the invoiced weight.
- Flake size and fines
- A screen size with oversize and fines limits. One tight sheet allows at most 5% above 12 mm and 0.1% below 1 mm.
- End use
- Fibre, strapping, sheet or food contact: a food route needs controlled input from the bottle stage.
Tests and papers for clear PET flake
- ASTM D4603-26
- Inherent viscosity of PET dissolved at 0.50%, by glass capillary viscometer. The 2018 edition is historical; name the current one.
- EN 15348:2024
- Sets the main characteristics of PET recyclates and their test methods. It replaced the 2014 edition, withdrawn in May 2024.
- ISO 12418-2, Annex A
- Counts PVC, polyolefins, metal and paper in flake; Annex D of DIN EN 15348 is the other route. Ask the lab which it used.
- DoE Environmental Clearance Certificate
- Washing plants need clearance under ECR 2023. Small flake exporters were reported in 2024 to struggle to obtain it, so we ask to see it.
Lead times and delivery
No single figure fits every lot. Flake already washed and bagged moves faster than flake sorted to your limits, and the lab report on the lot sample adds time before loading. A failed test and re-sort, damp weather at the drying stage and container bookings at Chattogram all add time. Roptan confirms dates, lot sizes and any minimum in the quote.
Inside Bangladesh, flake usually travels in big bags; recyclers' sheets show about 800 to 1,100 kg a bag, labelled by lot. We deliver to your plant with the packing list, lot test report, the slip from a BSTI-verified weighbridge and a VAT invoice (Mushak 6.3). Keep bags covered: PET takes up moisture.
Buying clear PET flakes for export
Clear flake travels as plastic scrap. Under the Basel Convention's plastic waste amendments, in force since 1 January 2021 and binding on Bangladesh, clean single-polymer PET for recycling falls under entry B3011 without prior informed consent; contaminated or mixed loads fall under Y48 and need it. The authorities in the exporting and importing countries make the final reading. China took 99% of Bangladeshi flake in 2017, then banned such imports. We quote FOB Chattogram with the exporter's ERC.
Questions buyers ask
Can clear PET flake from Bangladesh go into food packaging?
Not by itself. Washed flake needs a decontamination process approved where the packaging is sold, and controlled input: PRE says food-contact rPET input should contain at most 5% non-food articles. Name the end use on your enquiry.
Which IV should I ask for?
The one your process needs, as a minimum in dl/g with the test method and edition. Recycled flake is not guaranteed to keep the original bottle's IV, so ask for IV on every lot, not one trial sample.
Why does a little PVC matter in clear flake?
PVC sinks in water like PET, so a float-sink tank cannot remove it; it is sorted out after washing. In a PET melt, PVC can give off hydrogen chloride, which harms the polymer, so sellers state it in ppm.
How dry must clear flake be before I melt it?
Far drier than on delivery. Sheets usually allow up to 1% moisture at dispatch; one European patent describes drying flake to at most 50 ppm before processing, because water in the melt splits PET chains. Store bags dry through the monsoon.
How soon will I hear back about PET flakes?
Within 48 hours of a complete requirement, with a price and a delivery date. A requirement is complete when it has the quantity, where it is needed and by when.
Who do I deal with?
With Roptan, when Roptan manages the order: we buy from the verified seller and deliver to you. With the supplier directly, when you post on the requirement board and choose a quote yourself.
