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Valorization of Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate as a Functional Binder for Ballpoint Pen Ink: A Circular Economy Approach
Summary
Scientists found a way to turn plastic water bottles (PET) into the ink used in ballpoint pens, offering a smart way to recycle plastic waste instead of letting it pile up in landfills or break down into microplastics. The recycled-plastic ink performed just as well as regular pen ink in tests for drying speed, durability, and shelf life, showing this isn't just a nice idea — it actually works. While this study focuses on reducing plastic pollution rather than directly testing human health effects, less plastic waste in the environment generally means less of it breaking down into the tiny microplastic particles that have been found in human blood, organs
The global accumulation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste poses a serious environmental challenge, and the stationery industry remains dependent on virgin petrochemical binders for ballpoint pen inks. This study presents a sustainable upcycling approach that converts waste PET into a functional ink binder. PET bottles were chemically depolymerized via glycolysis with glycerol using zinc acetate as a catalyst. The reaction conditions were systematically optimized, yielding the following optimal parameters: a PET-to-glycerol mass ratio of 1:1.1, 0.6 wt% catalyst, 230 °C, and 4 hours of reaction time. The resulting oligomeric resin (number-average molecular weight, Mn ≈ 1,800 g/mol) was confirmed by FT-IR, GPC, and HPLC. The depolymerization product was formulated into a black ballpoint pen ink with nigrosine dye as the colorant and phenol as the solvent. The optimal formulation (binder:phenol:nigrosine = 7:2:1, plus 0.8 wt% Span-80) exhibited excellent performance: appropriate viscosity, a drying time of ≤19 seconds, reliable temperature resistance from –20 to 40 °C, strong UV resistance of ≥72 hours, and extended storage stability of ≥340 days. All properties met or exceeded industry standards. This work demonstrates a practical, cost-effective, and sustainable route for upcycling PET waste into a high-value stationery product, reducing plastic pollution while replacing petrochemical binders. Copyright © 2026 by Authors, Published by Universitas Diponegoro and BCREC Publishing Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).