Dalton-based Shaw Industries Group Inc., along with DAK Americas, will create the joint venture Clear Path Recycling to produce recycled PET (RPET) from post-consumer PET bottles.

According to a company news release, carpet manufacturer Shaw, and DAK, the second largest PET resin producer in the Americas, will both use the RPET material as a feedstock to enhance the value and sustainability of their individual offerings. Shaw is the initial majority partner in Clear Path Recycling.

Clear Path Recycling plans to build a facility in North Carolina to recycle more than 280 million pounds annually of PET bottles, or about 5 billion bottles. The first phase of the new facility will process 160 million pounds of PET bottles; construction is expected to begin in mid 2009, with the plant operational in the first quarter 2010. A second phase, planned for completion in 2012, will bring the operation to capacity at 280 million pounds, making Clear Path Recycling the largest PET recycling operation in North America.

The RPET material will primarily be used by Shaw and DAK in their polyester based products. An estimated 25 percent of the total recycled material produced will be sold through merchant sales.