The solution for the management of mixed hard PLASTIC waste by applying CIrCuLar Economy approach

Introduction

The project aims to demonstrate how to benefit from the potential of a plastic fraction that is currently neither recovered nor recycled in a new business concept based on circular economy.

Project Goals

The project is to maximize recycling of mixed hard plastic waste and to increase the uptake of recycled plastics in product manufacturing. This contributes to reaching 10Mt of recycled plastics in new products by 2025, as set in the European Strategy for Plastics.

Innovative Solutions

This will be achieved with new business cooperation based on:

1. The innovative solution for sorting of heterogeneous hard plastic waste streams into recyclable fractions (PLC technology).
2. Two innovative alternatives for systemic uptake of recyclates in high-value products, i.e., production of tailored compounds and robotic 3D printing.

Objectives

The specific objectives of the project are as follows:

A. To design, implement, test, and validate the pilot PLC technology plant for efficient sorting of mixed hard plastic waste (capacity 3,500t/y).

B. To implement standardized PLC-compatible procedures for mixed hard plastic waste pre-sorting in municipal waste treatment plants, thus creating a standardized waste stream as an input to the PLC plant (3,500t/y).

C. To design, implement, test, and validate the pilot unit for the production of tailored compounds for product manufacturing with 70-90% recycled material from PLC (capacity 400t/y).

D. To design, implement, test, and validate the innovative mobile 3D printing prototype with 100% recycled material from PLC (capacity 65t/y).

E. To establish a new circular business network (i.e., PLC network) to boost cooperation between municipal waste treatment plants, plastic recyclers, and converters (12 plants, 3 countries).

F. To increase the quality of recycled polyolefins to reach levels suitable for food packaging production - 3 newly developed tailored compounds.

G. To develop 5 market-ready products using bulk amounts (70-100%) of PLC-recycled materials.

H. To prepare PLC technology replication and transfer, starting with environmental decisions for two full-scale plants.