Thermoformed packaging such as blister packs and clamshells typically end up in landfills, even though many of them are made of PC PET, the material that is blow molded into soft drink and water bottles and highly recyclable. That’s a problem for manufacturers concerned about the sustainability of their products and product packaging. But realities of the economics of recycling will probably prevent the widespread recycling of thermoform-grade RPET for some time to come. (The “R” of RPET means the polymer comprises virgin material plus regrind, or recycled content.) In a pilot study conducted by thermoform packaging maker Dordan Manufacturing in Woodstock, Ill., the company shipped 50 of its RPET clamshells to a local recycling facility to determine how well the containers could be sorted. The automated waste-management facility that accepted the RPET samples sort different kinds of polymers using optics