Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic material belonging to the polyester family.
Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT) is used for housings in electrical engineering, but also in automotive construction as plug connectors and in households for example in showerheads or irons. It is also found processed into fibres in toothbrushes, coffee capsules, false eyelashes and is used in the keycaps of some high-end computer keyboards because the texture is highly resistant to wear and discolouration due to UV radiation.
PBT can also be made into yarn. This has a natural stretch similar to Lycra and can be incorporated into sportswear. Due to its chlorine resistance, it is commonly found in swimwear.
Coffee capsules issue:
Coffee pods are usually made from a combination of plastics and aluminium with organic matter contained inside. It can take 150 to 500 years for these pods to break down in landfill.
Aluminium itself is recyclable matter and can be reused infinitely. The issue with coffee pods lies in their small size, making them difficult to recycle as resource recovery centres are generally not equipped to handle items so small. What will usually happen, if you put your coffee pod into the recycling bin, is that it will simply fall through the filtering screen and become a contaminant in the recycling system. This means it ends up sitting in a landfill anyway, putting your good recycling intentions to complete waste.