Frequently asked questions

Tritan and Tritan Renew are specialty materials, known as copolyesters, used to make products like household appliances, water bottles, eyewear and phone cases. These durable copolyesters create long-lasting, durable products that eliminate the need for single-use plastics. Our materials are so special that brands partner with us to showcase the Tritan name as a symbol of quality that sets their products apart from others in the market.

Clear Tritan pellets fall off a manufacturing line into a bucket.

About Tritan
About Tritan Renew

Eastman Tritan copolyester is a tough, BPA-free plastic used to make various products you use every day. Products made from Tritan are impact and shatter resistant. Plus, they stay clear and durable, even after years of repeated use and dishwasher cycles.

Yes, Tritan is safe for you and your family. It has been rigorously tested by third-party labs to ensure its safety. It is completely free of bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S and any other bisphenol compounds as well as estrogenic and androgenic activity. Tritan is not only chemically safe but also shatter resistant, so the only thing you have to worry about when someone knocks over a product made with Tritan is cleaning up the spill.

The best way to identify if a plastic is safe is to know how it has been tested — and how reliable the scientific testing and conclusions are. Evaluating a plastic using a comprehensive set of reliable and definitive tests is the best approach.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a compound used in specific plastics, including polycarbonate. BPA is also used in coatings to prevent deterioration of the metal surface in canned foods. BPA is not and has never been an ingredient or byproduct of the production of Tritan. Validation that Tritan is a BPA-free plastic is supported by robust testing and independent, third-party testing by accredited laboratories.

Bisphenol S (BPS) is a chemical compound used in specific plastics and coatings that can potentially be used as a substitute for BPA given the similarity in structure. Tritan is not only BPS-free but also free of all bisphenols and chemicals with similar structures as BPA and BPS.

We’ve put Tritan through comprehensive, independent, third-party testing using respected scientific tests to demonstrate that Tritan is EA- and AA-free.

No, nor is it a measure of the safety of a product. The number, usually located in the center of the triangular recycle symbol, is called the “resin identification code” and is intended to facilitate sorting of material for recycling. Currently, resin identification code “7” is for “other” resins that are not defined by codes 1 through 6. Therefore, a number of unrelated plastics can carry a code 7, including Tritan, polycarbonate, nylon and even the newer bioplastics.

No. Tritan is shatter resistant, so while it has the look and clarity of glass, it won’t break when you drop it or toss it in the bottom of your backpack. It can take all the bumps and drops of daily life and even survive some of the not-so-typical stresses.

Tritan can last through hundreds of dishwasher cycles, numerous hiking trips, and even a few really long falls. Tritan outlasts glass, other plastics and just about every other material when compared through third-party testing.

Tritan Renew offers the same level of performance and durability as standard Tritan with an important distinction.

Tritan Renew is a plastic made possible by revolutionary molecular recycling technology that transforms single-use plastic waste into durable materials, offsetting the use of fossil-based raw materials and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. This revolutionary technology breaks down plastic waste back to its basic chemical building blocks, allowing plastic materials to be recycled again and again.

Recycled content refers to the material’s origin—or beginning of life. It is the amount of recycled plastic content as a percentage of the overall amount of material. Eastman certifies the amount recycled content of Tritan Renew with the ISCC PLUS certification for tracking recycled content through mass balance accounting, which certifies the recycled content claimed in our products, providing transparency through the chain-of-custody.

International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is an independent organization that has well-established standards for tracking sustainable content and provides certification for sustainable materials.

We can recycle materials that cannot be recycled by traditional mechanical methods today, breaking down plastic waste into its molecular building blocks and rebuilding those molecules into new materials. With Eastman’s molecular recycling technologies, we can provide an infinite life span — a truly circular solution — for hard-to-recycle waste plastics that were previously destined to end up in landfills, incinerators or waterways.

Yes, Tritan Renew is BPA-free. It has a unique molecular composition and is not manufactured with BPA, just like our original Tritan.

Yes, Tritan Renew is food-contact safe. It complies with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements, along with many other regulatory bodies globally, for repeated-use food contact products.

Yes, Tritan Renew is microwave safe. The FDA has cleared Tritan Renew for use in food contact at temperatures up to and including 100°C (212°F) — temperatures that can be achieved through conventional convection or microwave heating.

Yes. Tritan Renew, just like our original Tritan, has demonstrated outstanding durability in both residential and commercial dishwasher applications. It resists degrading and stress cracking in hot, wet, dishwasher environments, even with cleaning solutions.

Tritan Renew is made in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA.

To be considered recyclable, at least 60% of consumers or communities must have access to a collection system that accepts the item per the U.S. Federal Trade Commission Green Guides.

At this time, the recycling infrastructure does not exist to be able to properly recycle Tritan, Tritan Renew or any of the RIC code 7 materials.

However, by collaborating with recycling stakeholders, organizations and policymakers, Eastman is working to advance the acceptance and implementation of circular economy solutions. These collaborations enable Tritan and Tritan Renew to be recyclable at scale. Since Tritan is a thermoplastic, it can be recycled over and over again.

Tritan is a tough, BPA-free plastic used to make a variety of products. Products made from Tritan are impact and shatter resistant. It stays clear and durable, even after years of repeated use and dishwasher cycles.

Tritan Renew is molecularly identical to Tritan and possesses the same BPA-free, shatter-resistant properties that make it the clear choice where clarity, durability and safety are critical. But it's also made with up to 50% recycled content.*

*Certified recycled content allocated using ISCC mass balance.

Mechanical recycling, also known as traditional recycling, is the type of recycling in which used plastics typically are sorted, cleaned, shredded, melted and then re-extruded into plastic pellets. These pellets are then used to make recycled-content plastic packaging and other products that are typically downcycled, which means that after a certain number of uses, the plastic can no longer be recycled.

Molecular recycling is also commonly referred to as chemical or advanced recycling. At Eastman, we call it molecular recycling because our technologies break down plastic waste to its molecular building blocks to be reassembled into new plastics.

Many methods of chemical recycling exist and differ in terms of process, waste input, efficiency and environmental performance. Eastman’s molecular recycling technologies reduce greenhouse gas emissions when compared to using fossil fuels and create recycled products that are indistinguishable from those made with nonrecycled content.

Mechanical recycling is a process in which plastic waste, through mechanical processing, is reformed into a similar material. It is energy efficient, widely used and effective if the plastic waste is clean and of a single type of material (for example, clear PET water bottles.) But the recycled material loses some of its original properties — including clarity, durability and food contact safety — which means that after a few cycles, it cannot be mechanically recycled any further.

Molecular recycling breaks plastics down to their building blocks and reforms them into recycled materials that are indistinguishable from brand-new materials. Since the properties of plastics coming from molecular recycling are not reduced, plastics can be recycled infinitely. Molecular recycling can also process most types of plastic without the need for cleaning and separating different materials.

Mechanical and molecular recycling processes are complementary. Together, they provide an optimal solution to the global plastic waste crisis.

These numbers are part of the ASTM International Resin Identification Coding System, often abbreviated RIC. This system identifies the plastic resin from which the product is made and was developed with a goal of providing a consistent way to facilitate sorting and recycling of postconsumer plastics. The number broadly refers to the type of plastic used in the product by chronological order of when that plastic became recyclable. The majority of recycled items today are either “1” or “2.”

1—Signifies that the product is made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Common items are single-use beverage bottles, cups and other packaging.

2—Signifies the product is made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Common items include single-use bottles, cups and milk jugs.

3—Signifies polyvinyl chloride (PVC), including pipes, siding and flooring.

4—Signifies low-density polyethylene (LDPE), including plastic bags, six-pack rings and tubing.

5—Signifies polypropylene (PP), including auto parts, industrial fibers and food containers.

6—Signifies polystyrene (PS), including plastic utensils, Styrofoam and cafeteria trays.

7—Signifies “other plastics,” including acrylic, nylon, polycarbonate and polylactic acid (PLA).