Plastic production has increased to more than one million tons per day, leading to a growing challenge of plastic waste, which chemical recycling technologies can mitigate by turning the waste into raw materials that can be used to meet the current demand for plastic.
Chemical recycling company Plastic Energy is helping to “turn the tide on plastic waste”. With two recycling plants in Almeria and Seville, Spain, the company’s recycling process transforms difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into an optimal oil feedstock, called TACOIL, which replaces fossil oils in the production of new plastic containers
“Chemical recycling technologies can break down plastics into their original building blocks, transforming them into valuable, virgin-quality raw materials. Virgin-like plastic raw materials can be used in high-quality applications , such as food packaging,” explains Plastic Energy’s head of policy Adela Putinelu.
With the exception of polyethylene terephthalate bottles, mechanical recycling often reduces materials with limited food grade use.
However, chemical recycling can recycle plastics repeatedly, without any deterioration in quality, and can be used in food-grade contact-sensitive plastic packaging.
Putinelu adds that, used together, mechanical recycling and chemical recycling ensure greater volumes of recycled plastic waste. He explains that demand for high-quality recycled material has increased as a result of regulatory pressure and sustainability commitments.
“There is currently a shortage of recycled content for plastics, so capacity needs to grow to meet current and projected demand.”
Plastic Energy’s process helps reduce the amount of end-of-life plastics that currently end up in landfills, incinerators and as plastic waste exports while increasing the amount of plastics that are recycled. Its plastic-to-plastic model allows the company to help create a circular economy for plastic waste, as well as reduce the climate impact of plastic production.
Putinelu says the company’s collaborations and partnerships with the entire plastics value chain are key to expanding and expanding chemical recycling. This collaboration ensures that more plastics are recycled and that more high-quality recycled content can be incorporated into the products and packaging of consumer brands.
Plastic Energy’s raw material, TACOIL, has already been commercialized and incorporated into various packaging products in the European market.
Only around 9% of plastic waste is recycled, with more than 22 million tonnes of plastics seeping into the oceans and environment each year, according to the intergovernmental organization Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. This is causing significant damage to ecosystems and poses health hazards to communities living near the landfills.
To address this growing problem, the processes of collecting, sorting and recycling plastic waste must improve dramatically.
In addition, innovative design changes need to be encouraged and implemented to improve recyclability and use plastics more sustainably.
Plastic Energy opened its new dedicated research and development laboratories at Loughborough University in England last year. The laboratories serve as a base for the company to further develop its technology and TACOIL.
Plastic Energy’s team of researchers and scientists have been working for over ten years in the shared research and development laboratories at Loughborough University. The company is excited to continue its work at the university in its dedicated labs.
In addition, after the success of its two commercial plants in Spain, Plastic Energy is expanding its activities by establishing partnerships with other companies to build new plants worldwide.
In Europe, Plastic Energy has a recycling plant under construction in the Netherlands, with partner SABIC, and another plant under construction in France.
