Where the material comes from
PET acoustic felt is made largely from recycled polyethylene terephthalate - mostly post-consumer bottle flake. A single square meter of 9mm felt uses a meaningful quantity of recycled bottle material, which is why specifiers in Europe and North America increasingly ask for the recycled content percentage in writing. If your project targets LEED, BREEAM, or WELL credits, that number belongs in your submittal pack, not in a sales email.
Indoor air quality: what to ask for
Low emissions matter as much as recycled content. Ask for VOC test data and formaldehyde results rather than a generic "eco-friendly" claim. Reputable manufacturers test to recognised methods and will share the report. A supplier who answers a technical question with marketing language is telling you they do not have the data.
Does recycled felt perform as well?
Yes. Acoustic performance is governed by thickness, density, and airflow resistance, not by whether the fibre is virgin or recycled. A 9mm PET felt panel with a tested NRC is a tested NRC regardless of feedstock. If you are comparing options, read what NRC rating means before comparing numbers, and check 9mm vs 12mm thickness for the performance difference.
Fire performance and end of life
Sustainability questions usually arrive together with fire questions. For commercial interiors you will need Class A performance under ASTM E84 or the equivalent European class. Both are achievable with treated PET felt - the details are in our guide to Class A fire rating and ASTM E84. At end of life, PET felt is thermoplastic and can be reprocessed, which is a genuine advantage over bonded glass fibre products that typically go to landfill.
What we can document
Recycled content statement, fire test report, and VOC data are available on request for our polyester acoustic panels. Ask early - documentation takes longer to organise than samples do.