**3.1.3 Methanolysis**

Methanolysis is the degradation of PET using methanol at high temperatures and high pressures with the main products being dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and ethylene glycol.

Methanolysis is the recycling process which has been practiced and tested on a large scale for many years in the past. In this case, polyester waste is transformed with methanol into DMT (Dimethyl terephthalate), under pressure and in presence of catalysts. Finally the crude DMT is purified by vacuum distillation. Degradation of PET using ethylene glycol at high temperatures and high pressures with the main products being BHET is used to produce some different materials such as polyester, polyurethane resins and esteric plasticizer, as shown in Fig. 7.
