Kategori Arşivleri: News

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Plastic Energy and Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe will allow for the production of 100,000 metric tons of recycled raw materials from plastic waste annually.

According to the companies, “the largest usage of Plastic Energy technology on the market” will take place at the production facility in Köln (Cologne), Germany. According to the firms, the “Tacoil” made using recycled material “would enable a circular approach to generate necessary plastic goods that meet the standards of demanding food contact and medical applications.”

According to the London-based company Ineos, “Plastic Energy’s patented TAC recycling technology will turn difficult-to-recycle plastic waste otherwise destined for incineration or landfill into a valuable raw material [known as] Tacoil, a Plastic Energy product that can be used to create virgin-quality polymers.” The company also says it will invest in technology to process the Tacoil and feed it to its steam crackers, where it will replace conventional raw materials derived from petroleum.There is also the plastic recycling called melt filters from Laser Filters company which aims to provide better recycling solutions for the plastic recycling field.

According to Ineos, “this use of advanced recycling enables the conversion of plastic waste into new, virgin-quality materials that may be used in challenging applications where safety regulations need the highest level of product purity and performance.”

According to Rob Ingram, CEO of the engaged Ineos business unit, “advanced recycling has to be done at scale in order to make the process environmentally and financially feasible.” Therefore, I’m thrilled to take this initial step with Plastic Energy toward establishing such a capability right away.

“We are thrilled to announce this project with Ineos to further develop our portfolio of plants in Europe,” says Carlos Monreal, founder and CEO of Plastic Energy. We already employ tacoil from our recycling process in goods that are sold on the European market, and we look forward to collaborating with Ineos to increase the production of recycled material.

A commercial scale plant might potentially be built in 2020, according to the initial announcement of a partnership between Ineos and UK-based Plastic Energy. According to the firms, Tacoil has already been successfully transformed into polymer of virgin quality by the Ineos cracker in Köln and has been “used by certain clients and brands to illustrate the viability and demand for materials from advanced recycling.”

Every three years, K Messe, the world’s largest exhibition for plastics and rubber, serves as the industry’s flagship event. The event’s next iteration will take place in Messe Düsseldorf from October 19–26, 2022.

Nearly 225,000 trade visitors and more than 3,300 exhibiting firms attended the event’s most recent edition in 2019; it is anticipated that the next edition will surpass these figures. K Fair presents a truly priceless experience by showcasing a wide range of product divisions and supporting events.

Speaking of product themes, the K show covers a wide range of them, including services, research, science, machinery & equipment, semi-finished goods & technical components, raw materials & auxiliaries, and equipment & machinery. There will be the latest plastic recycling technology melt filters in this massive event by Laser Filters at Hall11-E28, be sure to check it out!

The Circular Economy, which focused on recycling plastics in a responsible manner, was a major theme of the previous edition. Additionally, educational institutions will display their research for the plastics and rubber industries at the Science Campus. Novelties in the medical field, environmental protection, compounding, tomorrow’s technology, and other activities will also be held.

Thousands of individuals from all over the world who are interested in and working in the recycling and plastic business will be in Dusseldorf as a result of this major groundbreaking event.

The lineup of speakers and panelists for the 2022 Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference Europe event has been finalized; more than a dozen nations will be represented at the conference in mid-November.

Belgium, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States are among the countries represented in the 2022 roster.

Networking opportunities are scheduled before and after seven presentations addressing subjects of critical relevance to gatherers, processors, traders, and consumers of plastic scrap and recovered paper during the two-day conference, which will be held at the Rotterdam Hilton on November 15–16.

Representatives from the Smurfit Kappa Group, based in Ireland, the Norske Skog, based in Norway, the Ekman Group, based in Sweden, the VIPA Group, based in Switzerland, the Sonoco, based in the United States, and several other organizations with a significant global presence will speak during sessions focusing on the paper and board industry.An important technology called melt filters by laser filters is planned to be talked about in terms about the recycling field.

Other sessions will focus on the packaging industry and the future of plastic in a regulatory environment that is changing. At the Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference Europe, opinions from plastic recycling businesses in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Latvia will be featured.

The inaugural session on Tuesday, Nov. 15, will focus heavily on the topic of trade between Europe and the other continents, which has historically been a major topic of discussion at the event.

Dr. Andreas Krawczik of Remondis Netherlands, who is also a board member of the European Waste Management Association (FEAD) in Brussels, and Ulrich Leberle, raw materials director of the Confederation of European Paper Industries in Brussels, will present their perspectives on the future of the cross-border trade in recyclables (CEPI).

The “Walls and Bridges: Commerce in the 2020s” discussion later on Tuesday will also be centered on cross-border trade.

The panelists in that session, who are from Belgium, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, will go through and look at the rules and freight circumstances that are changing how recovered fiber and plastic scrap is transported both within and outside of Europe.

Other seminars on November 15–16 have been planned to offer more information about how recyclers in Europe are handling supply issues and trade impediments in 2022 and beyond.

On this website, you can find more details on the November Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference Europe event, along with instructions on how to sign up.

In addition to announcing the Firestone Polymer Engineering Pilot Center (PEPC) in Akron, Ohio, Bridgestone Americas, which has its corporate offices in Nashville, Tennessee, also announced that it has been awarded the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus certification.

ISCC Plus is an internationally renowned third-party sustainability certification method that performs an audit to assess the compliance with environmental sustainability requirements for all sustainable raw materials, circular materials, biological materials, and renewable energy.

In a press statement, Bridgestone stated that the certification was acquired for the company’s transparency and traceability of sustainable raw resources. In its move to a circular economy, this involves using bio, bio-circular, and circular-based materials to replace synthetic rubber.

The ISCC Plus certification, according to Nizar Trigui, chief technology officer and group president of Bridgestone Americas, “demonstrates the progress we’re making to deliver sustainable synthetic rubber made with bio-sourced and recycled materials.” Transparency and traceability are essential components to the success of our company’s sustainability journey.

“We are reinventing how we create and develop goods to promote a more sustainable transportation future, including ground-breaking modifications to the processes at our production plants to enable material circularity.”

The beginning of synthetic rubber manufacture by Bridgestone in Akron is commemorated this year on its 80th anniversary. According to the firm, the PEPC is a part of the Bridgestone Americas Technology Center, which serves as the center for all product development and research for the Bridgestone business in America.

Bridgestone asserts that the company’s ability to meet its 2050 sustainability targets of carbon neutrality and tires manufactured entirely of renewable materials depends on its proficiency in polymer development for the production of synthetic rubber. By commercializing the use of guayule natural rubber in tires by 2030, Bridgestone will also continue to promote its research and development initiative to diversify the natural rubber supply in the world.Along with the promotion to supply natural rubber and plastics there is the recycling technology called melt filters which help recycle plastics with high efficiency of plastic waste which helps such companies meet their sustainability targets.

The ecology and energy principles of the Bridgestone E8 Commitment are supported by PEPC’s ISSC Plus accreditation. As a result, eight values are established, beginning with the letter E, to demonstrate Bridgestone’s dedication to a more sustainable world.

A free online video learning series called Circularity Concepts: Exploring Key Drivers of the Plastic Circular Economy has been created by Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) Asia and The Incubation Network, Singapore, which is a collaboration between The Circulate Initiative, New York City, and SecondMuse. The series, with an emphasis on Southeast Asia and India, is intended to increase awareness and knowledge of new and emerging concerns, important regulations, and other strategic activities for implementing sustainable recycling solutions to help enterprises fulfill 2025 circular economy targets.

The five-part video series, which includes presentations that can be downloaded, covers a range of subjects intended to increase understanding of material issues and potential steps businesses might take to reduce their use of plastic or switch to alternative materials and business models in the future.

For instance, one article examines the region’s existing plastic credits situation and usage, while another examines reuse and refill tactics that can aid in the shift to a more circular economy.

“Finding solutions to better manage and recover waste plastics is vital to the health of our oceans and communities at a time when there are some forecasts that ocean plastics will double by 2050,” says Anne Johnson, principal and vice president at Ann Arbor, Michigan-based RRS. With the cooperation of The Circulate Initiative, The Incubation Network created this series to “assist organizations in better understanding the most cutting-edge approaches and technology available to achieve sustainability goals as we move toward a circular economy.”

Simon Baldwin, the global head of circularity at SecondMuse, which has offices all over the world and is located in Singapore, believes that Circularity Concepts will assist to pave the way for innovation in the circular economy. For the circularity model to work most efficiently recycling technologies such as Melt Filters can be used for recycling plastics fast and efficient. Underneath Asia’s plastic garbage problem is a web of intricate stakeholder, cultural, and societal institutions that can be very challenging to disentangle on your own. The Incubation Network steps in at this point to connect our community of changemakers with educational tools and resources like Circularity Concepts in order to more accurately pinpoint problems and plot potential directions for better solutions.

“The greatest impact comes from an ecosystem approach—corporates, entrepreneurs, investors, and politicians working together to build circular economy solutions,” adds Umesh Madhavan, research director at The Circulate Initiative.

To this aim, we understand how critical it is to close systemic knowledge gaps in order to encourage action. We assisted The Incubation Network and RRS Asia in choosing priority themes for Circularity Concepts by drawing on our subject matter knowledge and understanding of the circular plastic value chain. We also attempted to use practical, real-world examples to demonstrate the circular economy in action.

The VTT Technical Research Center in Espoo, Finland, claims that after four decades of developing thermal conversion technology, it is now prepared to commercialize a method that “can affordably convert most of the world’s waste plastics back to usable virgin grade materials an infinite number of times.”

VTT claims to have eight patent applications for the Olefy technology and will start launching it in October.

Its intentions include establishing a new business named Olefy Technologies to implement the cutting-edge technique that, according to VTT, “can extract over 70% virgin grade polymers and chemical raw material components from plastic waste.”

According to VTT, “The novel process can be completed in one step, significantly decreasing the cost of plastic recycling and making recycling a preferred choice for significant quantities of landfill-bound plastic waste that present technologies are unable to treat.”

According to the study center, mechanical recycling has drawbacks, including some recovered plastic that “cannot be used in food packaging and pharma applications.”

“With Olefy, it is economically feasible to recycle the majority of the world’s plastics with little sorting by consumers and businesses,” continues VTT. “The possibility to acquire virgin quality plastic from previously worthless plastic waste.”

“Olefy is a quantum leap in recycling that will revolutionize how the world views plastic by making it genuinely circular and pushing us towards carbon neutrality even faster,” says Antti Vasara, CEO of VTT.

One benefit of the Olefy method, according to a researcher at VTT, is that it makes it possible to recycle plastic indefinitely.This unlimited recycling aspect is revolutionary just as Melt Filters technology uses many advanced technologies for recycling.

According to Matti Nieminen, head of technology at Olefy, one issue with present recycling techniques is that plastic quality deteriorates with each recycling cycle. “The quality degrades too much after a number of mechanical recycling cycles, rendering the plastic unusable and sent to a landfill.

With the Olefy recycling process, the plastic’s quality is equal to that of virgin grade, allowing for endless recycling and eliminating the requirement for landfill-bound products. In essence, Olefy will enable plastic to be a genuine component of the circular economy.

Additionally, Olefy’s revolutionary technology minimizes the requirement for naphtha feedstock and has the ability to generate its own energy for use in the recycling process.The recycling technology Laser Filters also eases the process of recycling in all sorts of plastics and is used in the field of recycling technologies. 

According to Nieminen, “the economic advantages of having virgin quality components made from recycled materials can radically shift the dynamic of world oil use.”

At the VTT Bioruukki Pilot Center in Espoo, Finland, an operational Olefy pilot is in operation. The recently founded Olefy Technologies company is presently negotiating with investors, considering collaborations, and growing up its business and licensing its technologies. According to VTT, the first industrial demonstration operation should be operational by 2026.

The gasification-based Olefy method is tolerant of impurities in the feed and is based on gasification. According to VTT, “this entails easier preparation of the feed before the Olefy operation.”

Four Sam’s Club locations in El Paso, Texas, are running a recycling trial program
that offers cash rewards to customers who recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) thermoformed containers. The initiative was developed by the Houston-based Texans for Clean Water
and Austin-based Texan by Nature, and it is made feasible with the support of regional El Paso community organizations and project partners. The program will collect 110,000 pounds of No. 1 PET plastics between July 6, 2022, and January 2023, according to the Texan by Nature website.

According to Karina Araujo, marketing manager at Texan by Nature, PET thermoformed containers were chosen due to their lower recycling rate than PET bottles.

At material recovery plants without optical sorting equipment, PET thermoforms frequently flow into a mixed plastics bale, where they may eventually end up in landfills, according to Araujo. Plastic recycling technologies such as Melt Filters that recycle PET containers and many other plastics help sort the plastics and ease the process of recyling. Plastic clamshells for fruit, trays, tubs, transparent egg cartons, lids, and cups are examples of objects made of PET thermoformed plastic.

The trial program is comparable to beverage container deposit schemes that offer rewards for recycling plastics. According to Araujo, there is 50% less litter on roads and 30% less litter in waterways in the ten states that have deposit laws that offer 5 to 10 cents for containers returned for recycling.

Araujo argues that combining PET data with this knowledge “offers a possibility to reduce landfill waste, reduce litter on roads and in waterways, and possibly show a circular model.”

In the El Paso Sam’s Club parking lots, containers for PET thermoform deposits, created by Texan by Nature, are situated. The MeCycle App allows users to examine their drop-off histories and claim incentive rewards for materials they have deposited. For each transparent, thermoformed No. 1 PET plastic package recycled, customers will receive 10 cents back. They can transfer the remaining sum to a Venmo account if they have added 50 or more goods, or $5 in earnings, to their account. Additionally, users have the choice to contribute the funds they receive to nearby charities:

-El Paso Zoological Society

-Green Hope Initiative;

-The Community Foundation for Paso del Norte

-The Frontera Land Coalition;

-Institute Tom Lea

During the course of the six-month project, Green Impact Plastics, located in Vernon, California, will cooperate with L&P Scientific Consulting, based in El Paso, to empty the containers. El Paso will bale the thermoforms before shipping them to Juarez, Mexico, where they will be processed into flakes. These flakes will be delivered to Dallas-based packaging maker D6 Inc. for use in creating new PET thermoformed goods. Over the past nine years, D6 has recycled more than 1.1 billion pounds of domestic PET in total. According to Araujo, D6 will be able to transform the recycled debris back into PET thermoforms in less than two weeks.

Texans for Clean Water is providing funding for the project, which includes the incentive incentives for recycling participants. D6 Inc. has also pledged more money for incentives.

Araujo claims that through using marketing and instructional materials in both English and Spanish, the initiative has involved the El Paso community. The marketing materials, which were developed by Texan by Nature with participation from neighborhood groups, are being distributed to media outlets in El Paso as well as to community organizations, government agencies, and multifamily housing.

The Frontera Land Alliance, El Paso Community Foundation, Green Hope Project, Better Business Bureau Paso del Norte, and several other organizations are collaborating with Texan by Nature in marketing and outreach initiatives.

After the pilot, Texan by Nature will compile a thorough report with input from all partners that covers all the data that was gathered, best practices, lessons learned, and other information.

This project is meant to serve as a template that other corporate retailers could use to improve the circularity of their supply chains, according to Araujo.

The $236 billion recycling business, which includes more than 9,000 community recycling programs and more than 100 post-consumer recyclers, has been the subject of a report on the state of plastic recycling in the United States from the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), Washington. According to the “Recommit, Reimagine, Rework Recycling” report, plastic recycling generates more than 200,000 employment in the United States and offers a scalable way to cut down on plastic waste.There is also the Melt Filters recycling technology by Laser Filters which help reduce plastic waste to great amounts.

80% of rigid plastic packaging is made of either polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), or polypropylene, according to the APR, which claims the report provides an important clarification on data provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the discussion on U.S. recycling rates (PP).

Based on EPA data, the APR report estimates that 21% of these types of plastic are recycled. The EPA’s most recent numbers, from 2018, show that the entire plastic recycling rate was only 9%. The EPA’s numbers, according to the APR, “include containers, packaging, and durable products intended to survive for many years as well as nondurable goods not intended for recycling, such rubbish bags.”

The APR claims that inaccurate information deters Americans who overwhelmingly support recycling, such as the EPA statistic.

The report also provides the most recent information on PET and HDPE bottles, which had a 28 percent recycling rate in 2020. According to the APR, U.S. plastic recyclers could increase the recycling rate of PET and HDPE bottles to more than 40% with little extra expenditure and by utilizing the country’s already-existing processing infrastructure.

The demand for recycled materials “is stronger than ever,” according to the research, therefore increasing the recycling rate for the polymers frequently used in packaging is essential. “A number of causes, such as brand sustainability commitments and governmental engagement, are responsible for this increased demand.

For firms looking to establish themselves as industry leaders in sustainability, post-consumer resin (PCR) is being increasingly recognized as a crucial packaging component.

The paper states that “creating a circular economy for plastic depends on every link of the chain working effectively together since plastic recycling is a chain of interconnected operations.” The report concludes that in order to meet this high demand and maintain and grow recycling, recycling technologies such as Melt filters has a great role, also it will be necessary for businesses to produce plastic goods and packaging that are recyclable, for consumers to put recyclables in the recycling bin, and for there to be a strong recycling infrastructure to collect, sort, and process that material.

The report offers policy recommendations to accomplish these goals, including making sure that all new products and packaging are designed to be recyclable, expanding and strengthening community recycling programs, standardizing the types of plastic that are collected in those programs, and encouraging consideration of the true cost of disposal and the low costs to landfill.

Furthering the circular economy for plastic will minimize plastic waste and support efforts to reduce carbon emissions, according to the paper, as employing PCR to create new goods is associated with considerable savings in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Steve Alexander, president and CEO of APR, “APR’s state-of-the-industry report tells the true story of plastic recycling in the United States.” “Despite a pandemic and associated lockdown, this industry handled approximately 5 billion pounds of post-consumer plastic material in 2020, and we have every expectation that number will increase.”

“Improving the recycling rate is vital,” he continues, “since recycled material demand, a key driver of the recycling chain, is stronger than ever, encouraged by a variety of causes, including brand sustainability promises and legislative activity.”

The postconsumer recycled (PCR) Color Prediction Service for polyolefins and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resins, as well as Cesa Nox A4R Additives for Recycling, are new products from Avient Corp., a Netherlands-based supplier of specialized and sustainable material solutions and services.

These solutions are intended to enhance the customer experience while working with PCR content for materials used in packaging, according to a news release from Avient.There is also a recycling technology called Melt Filters which helps makes the process of plastic recycling much faster that can be used with these solutions to get best results.

According to Norbert Merklein, vice president and general manager of Color, Additives and Inks at Avient for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions, “Avient is fully committed to increasing opportunities to expand the use of recycled polymers, addressing any barriers that arise either during the recycling process or when customers want to incorporate PCR content into existing or new applications.” Together with the PCR Color Prediction Service, “Our Cesa Nox A4R Additives for Recycling help overcome these barriers.”

According to Avient’s PCR Color Prediction Service, brand owners will be able to determine what colors are possible based on the amount of PCR used.

The solution employs technology to assess whether colors are practical in a new application that includes PCR information through a previous color matching. The answer also determines how much PCR material may be incorporated into an application without changing its distinguishing hue. The company claims that in order to determine which colors can be successfully reproduced in a particular PCR-based material, it measures resin qualities using proprietary algorithms. “Simplifies and accelerates the selection of optimal colors for polymers with PCR content,” according to Avient, is what the service does. Melt Filters which also works with this system helps improve this recycling.

Additionally, according to Avient, its new Cesa Nox A4R Additives for Recycling were created using a composition that guards against oxidation, which can cause flaws like black spots, gels, and discoloration in post-consumer polyolefins.

According to Avient, antioxidants can be included into virgin resin to make it ready for future recycling or added to PCR content early in the recycling process.

Avient claims that the let-down ratio used by Cesa Nox A4R Additives for Recycling is half that of conventional antioxidants. Packaging, consumer goods, and automobile components are among the industries that use polyolefins stabilized using this addition.

The usage of a new generation of tried-and-true ECO goods for recycling PET has been disclosed. The new features are first available in sizes appropriate for medium-sized recycling lines, taking into account the need for systems with a higher product throughput.

The former ECO 250 is replaced by the new ECO 350, while the former ECO 250 Twin is replaced by the new ECO 500, which can achieve capacities of up to 4,000 kg/h. This range is completed by the ECO 200.

The melt filter technique used by Laser Filters is based on the idea of continuous melt flow from the outside to the interior of a spinning, perforated disc for self-cleaning. The impurities that are being held back on the surface are scraped off and fed to the discharge system.

The new ECO filters, like the ERF filters, which are made for higher contamination, also have a modular structure, offering a variety of possibilities for tailoring the filter qualities to the particular application.

The amount of time the operator must spend performing maintenance and replacement duties is decreased with better access to the scraper system. The discharge now leaves the ECO filters’ front side, which is typically simpler for the user to access.

The melt filters are made to efficiently filter out pollutants including paper, wood, aluminum, silicone, and other materials while processing feedstock for very low viscosity polymers (primarily PET and PA). The closed discharge mechanism also avoids the development of black specks. Advancements in recycling technology such as the melt filter really help battle pollution in the field of recycling.

Because of this, extrusion systems that turn PET bottle flakes into food packaging films, packaging tape, and fibers, as well as PET repelletizing and compounding processes, are the traditional applications for ECO melt filters. ECO melt filters may achieve throughputs of 150 kg/h to 4,000 kg/h and are appropriate for single-screw or twin-screw extrusion lines, regardless of the pelletizing system or other downstream equipment.

A set of water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) testing procedures have been developed for Aquapak Polymers’ Hydropol biodegradable polymer in collaboration with Industrial Physics, a global packaging, product, and material test and inspection company based in Boston. Aquapak Polymers is a manufacturer of polymer technology.

According to a press release from Aquapak, Hydropol is water soluble, biodegradable, nontoxic, and UV resistant in addition to offering the advantages of conventional polymer polymers. It also provides a variety of end-of-life options, including compostability, recyclable possibilities, and compatibility with anaerobic digestion facilities.

To assist clients in maintaining the integrity of their packaging, goods, and materials, Industrial Physics is a leading global test and inspection partner. The company includes a number of specialized testing companies, including Testing Machines Inc., Quality By Vision, Eagle Vision, Steinfurth, Technidyne, and RayRan.

Worldwide, 255 packaging industry professionals were polled by Industrial Physics. According to the survey, testing new sustainable materials is difficult. One of the main obstacles to the widespread use of sustainable packaging materials, according to 49% of the 255 worldwide packaging specialists, is satisfying testing standards.

An illustration of this is the fact that existing WVTR test procedures and specifications rely on conventional polymers rather than biodegradable substitutes like Hydropol.

To assist them in creating a repeatable and trustworthy test technique for WVTR for their Hydropol biodegradable polymer, Aquapak turned to Industrial Physics.

The WVTR test method is known to be difficult for hydrophilic polymers, so the team at Aquapak sought to leverage information and tools from industrial physics to create a testing procedure that could be used both internally and at the locations of its clients throughout the globe.

According to Aquapak’s quality control manager, Max Phippard, “We are confident in the results since we allowed the WVTR test to attain equilibrium. We have thoroughly analyzed multilayer samples over the past few months in order to better understand how our customers may reproduce their own WVTR testing routine on Hydropol.

According to Alana Shema, product line director at Industrial Physics, “We have reached a position where the WVTR test on Hydropol can be repeated anywhere in the globe by adopting the approach used by Aquapak and ourselves.”

This significant milestone will influence how hydrophilic films are examined going forward. It enables our international clients who purchase environmentally friendly packaging materials like Hydropol to conduct their own WVTR with confidence in the accuracy of the results.

Phippard continues, “Businesses have difficulties when attempting to migrate to new, sustainable packaging materials, as emphasized in Industrial Physics’ research. One way we are helping our clients on this path is by creating a WVTR strategy for Hydropol.

According to Industrial Physics, the food and beverage, flexible packaging, medical, pharmaceutical, and coatings industries can benefit from a variety of packaging, product, and material integrity testing solutions.There are also recycling technologies that help make this process way faster and much more efficient such as Laser Filters. This technology is also to assist clients in overcoming the difficulties of switching to sustainable packaging, the organization takes a collaborative approach.

The Horgen, Switzerland branch of American company Dow has declared its ambition to “build numerous world-scale, 120,000 metric ton-capacity advanced recycling facilities in the U.S. and Europe” through its collaboration   with London-based Mura Technology.

According to the two businesses, if the proposal is carried out, it will increase the capacity for nonmechanical recycling by up to 600,000 metric tons annually.

According to Mura, its HydroPRS hydrothermal recycling method “uses water in the form of supercritical steam to break down plastics” (water at elevated pressure and temperature). In as little as 25 minutes, the steam acts as a molecular pair of scissors, severing longer-chain hydrocarbon connections in plastics to release the valuable chemicals and oils from which the material was created.

According to Dow and Mura, the procedure can recycle hard-to-sort objects like films, pots, tubs, and trays. The procedure “is designed to function alongside conventional recycling and wider programs to minimize and reuse plastic, such as mechanical recycling (where plastic trash is shredded and re-formed into other plastic items),” the company claims.

The finished oils are “equal to the original fossil products [and] are then utilized to make fresh, virgin-grade plastic with no limit to the number of times the same material can be processed,” according to Mura, creating a “real circular economy for plastic [waste].” Packaging with food is one of the potential end markets, according to Dow.

According to the multinational chemicals and polymers company, it serves as “a significant off-taker of the circular feed that Mura produces” in the relationship. According to Dow, the circular process “reduces dependence on fossil-based feedstocks and will enable Dow to manufacture a recycled plastic feedstock for the development of new, virgin-grade polymers that are in great demand from worldwide brands.”

The first facility employing Mura’s HydroPRS technology is being constructed in Teesside, United Kingdom, and is scheduled to open in 2023 with a production line capable of producing 20,000 metric tons annually. The businesses claim that the output will “provide Dow with a 100% recyclable feedstock.”

With the expanded agreement, this supply is expected to rise significantly, contributing significantly to Dow and Mura’s goal of deploying up to 600,000 metric tons of hydrothermal recycling capacity globally by 2030.

According to the firms, Mura’s planned capital investments and Dow’s off-take agreements together constitute both companies’ largest commitment to date to enhance and scale up global non-mechanical recycling capabilities.

According to Marc van den Biggelaar, advanced recycling director for Dow, “the strengthening of Dow and Mura’s cooperation is another example of how Dow is trying to build momentum around breakthrough advanced recycling technology.” Dow is committed to advancing a circular economy for plastics, and our expanded cooperation with Mura represents an important step in that direction.

“Mura’s technology is meant to champion a global circular plastics economy, and our cooperation with Dow is a vital enabler to bring HydroPRS to every corner of the world,” says Dr. Steve Mahon, CEO of Mura Technology. By taking this next step in our relationship and utilizing the resources given by Dow, we will be able to finance a sharp rise in recycling capacity and enable the widespread use of circular plastics along with the new technology called melt filters by laser filters, in supply chains around the world.

A letter of intent with Atlanta-based Nexus Circular to establish what it calls a circular ecosystem for “previously non-recycled” plastic in Dallas and an investment to build what it calls “the single largest single hybrid recycling site in France, managed by Valoregen,” according to Dow, both of which it claims will secure sources of post-consumer resins (PCR) for the company.

Melt filters by Laser Filters,is an advanced recycling technology for eliminating impurities from recovered plastic.

Two different filtering devices, each on its own extruder, are used in an existing procedure to remove unwanted particles from molten plastic. After the resin has been through the first machine, it is allowed to cool before being divided into granules and sent through the second machine to get rid of smaller particles. The frequent cooling and heating steps in this method might deteriorate the characteristics of the plastic and are expensive in terms of equipment costs.

A second technique includes running two distinct filtering devices in line while the molten resin is being processed. The technology is noted to have “the forces and the full length of the passage… are so high that they substantially degrade the plastic substance.”

The device created by GP-Technology consists of a hollow body with several filters organized sequentially and an inlet and an outlet for molten resin. The filters have spinning scrapers that are powered by a driving shaft that is externally operated. Filtered debris is removed by scrapers and directed out of the device through a driveshaft part with a hollow section.

Each filter is made up of a metal perforated sheet that rests on a perforated disc or plate that is firmly linked to the hollow body. The sheet rests against the robust disc because it cannot sustain the system’s operating pressures. Because the holes in the filters are varied sizes, the first filter captures bigger impurities while the following filters capture smaller particles.

The driveshaft rotates the scrapers to clear any debris that might be clogging the filters if the pressure of the molten plastic exceeds a specific value, which is a useful aspect of the innovation. This stops the melt from melting at pressures that are too high. The technology uses a method that “the driveshaft can be set in rotation on command independent of the pressure attained by the molten material, continuously or according to a sequence or time intervals, or as a result of expected events.”

Due to its small size, low cost, protection of the plastic’s physical qualities, and ease of maintenance, the invention addresses the shortcomings of existing methods.

Depolymerization is a recycling technology that is used as a method of recycling used plastics by dissolving them into chemicals like light olefins, benzene, toluene, and xylene also used in the filed of melt filters technology.

With the novel technique, the polymers are first dissolved in an aromatic-rich solvent before being catalytically cracked in a reactor. Polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyamide, polycarbonate, polyurethane, polyester, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, and mixtures of these polymers can all be processed using this technique.

The dissolved polymer solution has a residence period of no longer than one second in one embodiment of the invention, which operates the reactor at temperatures between 1,022 F and 1,202 F.

Catalytically cracking the dissolved polymer solution further involves, in at least one embodiment, catalytically cracking the solution in a riser fluid catalytic cracker reactor.

In comparison to previous depolymerization techniques such delayed coking, pyrolysis, gasification, and liquefaction, the invention offers advantages since it generates less waste, is more cost-effective, and doesn’t introduce impurities like sulfur and nitrogen.
When conventional recycling is not cost-effective, the company promotes the development as an alternative to landfilling or incineration.

Foreign particles of varied sizes and volumes are added to the melt flow if internal waste and significantly contaminated post-consumer waste are added to the production process. To provide a consistent, high-quality final product, these must be effectively filtered away. Melt filtering must, therefore, not interfere in any way with the production process.

Changing screens in a number of filtration systems necessitates a production halt; pressure spikes in these systems disrupt processes; or deposited material that comes off during screen changes may even produce particles.

Production process without interruptions thanks to conditions that are always the same.
Contrarily, the unique melt filters technology ensures that the conditions in the melt flow are permanently stable, i.e., that the pressure drop across the screen and/or the level of contamination on the screen are maintained constant, allowing the line to operate at its most efficient level at all times.

This is made possible by the filter disk’s spinning motion, which is used to drive the screens through the melt channel. The consistency of the screen contamination is guaranteed by a control system. The control system responds automatically and modifies the rotational speed of the filter disk as soon as the contamination load changes. As a result, the pressure across the system stays constant; the only variable that changes during the filtration process is the speed at which the filter disk rotates.

The Melt filters technology by Laser Filters is therefore the best option for promoting the usage of recovered or recycled materials. Melt Filtration Systems are ideal as a retrofit solution and are simple to integrate into an existing process. The production line and the self-sufficient control system both keep an eye on the filtration process.

The screen disk’s continuous rotation maintains a steady pressure throughout the system. The control system responds automatically and modifies the rotational speed of the filter disk whenever there is a change in the contaminant coverage of the screens.

Melt Filtration Systems’ benefits for recycling applications

Melt Filtration Systems have been successfully utilized for decades and were created for demanding recycling applications. All filters manufactured by the world’s leading technological company in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, utilize the patented and distinctive Melt Filters Technology, which has the following benefits:

Also there is the company Laser Filters which also has the latest Melt Filters technology to help improve in the field of recyling today. We can say the Melt Filters technology has many unique advantages which can be counted as :

-No filter operation-related halt or disruption of the production process
-Production with constant pressure and no pressure spikes-Automatic and secure functioning requiring less manual labor
-Application-specific and rheologically optimized melt channels for quick product changes, dead spot-free designs, and short melt residence times
-Processing even of sensitive polymers without disruption
-Consistently excellent final product
-Easy and secure replacement of the filter element

There are also a couple more benefits that really help make the process of recycling technology much easier such as:

-Effective filter element cleaning made possible by completely automatic back-flushing RSFgenius Filtration System Type-Multi-layer stainless steel mesh screens that allow for finer granularities in recycling applications, down to 10 m
-For more than 35 years, it has been successfully used in demanding applications such as PVC, compounding, film, sheet, and fiber manufacture.

The so-called melt filters are a crucial component of plastic recycling systems’ technological foundation. Melt filtration systems, which are crucial for the output material’s quality, remove non-plastic components from recycled plastic, such as fragments of paper, wood, sand, glass, or aluminum. Based on the input materials, the appropriate filtration technique should be used in order to produce a high-quality pellet at the end of the recycling process.

Customers of Laser Filter Systems are assisted in selecting the ideal system for their needs. We mainly distinguish between continuous filtering and back flush filtration, which is a cyclical operation. With mesh sizes as tiny as 32 microns for ultra fine filtering, the SW RTF, a cycle filter system, offers great filtration possibilities. The Laser Filter, a continuous filter device, can go as low as 70 microns but can take even greater levels of contamination (the filtering discs’ holes are burned with a laser).

Important performance standards that need to be taken into account:

Automation

The extruder system ought to be properly integrated with a melt filter system. A quality melt filter adapts itself automatically depending on how contaminated the input material is. Modern filters adapt automatically rather than requiring workers to be involved in system adjustments. Additionally, filter systems ought to permit filter changes while the extruder is still operating rather than necessitate its shutdown. Automation to a high degree also lowers personnel costs and training needs.

Convenience

For post-consumer recycling materials in particular, simplicity and robustness is a crucial prerequisite. Large surface areas avoid pressure spikes, easy and quick access to the filters for operators, and a clear HMI make it easier for the operator to interact with the system. The melt should flow through the system without any dead spots (material hang-ups). To reduce downtime and remove the need for complicated operator training, all worn components in the system should be conveniently accessible.

Contaminant Elimination

The secret to success is understanding what kinds of pollutants are present in your material stream and customizing the filtration solution accordingly. The amount of pollutants in the plastic stream influences whether continuous or cyclical filtration is necessary. Decisions about processing (pressure, temperatures), and filtration fineness will be influenced by the type of contaminants and how much they need to be filtered out.

Cost of Maintenance

Any purchaser of filtration systems should take into account not just the initial capital expenditure but also the ongoing maintenance and consumables costs. These expenses can be predicted before purchasing the equipment based on input materials and contamination levels. The main consumables are typically filters, and in the case of continuous filter systems, blades. The filter discs can be cleaned and reused in some systems, such as the Laser Filter System.

A waste and recycling company claims that glass recovery and optical scanners will each receive $30 million.

The material recovery facility (MRF) in Oakwood, Ohio, not far from Cleveland, will receive an investment of about $30 million, according to WM, a Houston-based company that was originally known as Waste Management Inc.

According to the business, the investment will be used to install fiber and plastic optical sorting scanners that are intended to maximize the recovery and quality of recycled materials. The project also includes system changes to facilitate “advanced glass recovery and cleanup,” as described by WM, as well as an early-fire detection and suppression system.

Additionally, it is anticipated that the storage area for baled commodities at the current recycling plant will grow from roughly 7,000 square feet to 32,000 square feet.

The enlarged facility’s construction has already started, and according to WM, it will be finished by March 2023.

With more than 500,000 customers in Ohio, “WM works with our customers to assist achieve their recycling needs, and it is vital that we continue to invest in our communities and develop our recycling infrastructure,” says Aaron Johnson, WM’s vice president for the Great Lakes region. “At its core, WM is a sustainability firm, and our team is thrilled to underline our commitment to the environment with this investment in the Cleveland region.”

The initiative, according to the waste and recycling company, is a part of a $275 million recycling infrastructure investment  that will be made in 2022. This will increase the company’s total investment in new and expanded recycling facilities to more than $1.3 billion since 2018.

The investment, according to the company, is anticipated to allow WM to capture more recycled materials and expand access to recycling for its clients as the market for goods with recycled content continues to grow.

The Cleveland MRF is also planning to open a brand-new recycling education center, which will be accessible to the public for scheduled educational programs and tours.

At the moment, WM runs four MRFs in Ohio. With this development, WM’s Cleveland facility is anticipated to take over as the state’s main center for recycling processing. At the location, WM plans to create an extra 40 jobs and offer “the option to upskill current roles when technology is implemented.”

In order to support the anticipated advances in recycling processing, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) recently announced the granting of a $200,000 Market Development Grant . The grant award maintains what WM describes as a solid partnership between WM and the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Management District to increase Ohio’s recycling capacity.

According to Elizabeth Biggins-Ramer, executive director of Cleveland-based Cuyahoga Recycles, “The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District is happy that WM chose to increase recycling capabilities in Northeast Ohio, as it will act as a catalyst for additional sustainability efforts in the area.” Additionally, WM’s education center will give locals, companies, and leaders of the community the chance to learn how to recycle properly.

WM’s Johnson continues, “This facility will present a larger chance for local solutions for single-stream recycling.” “We are proud to provide state-of-the-art tools and technology to the residents and businesses we assist in Cuyahoga County and beyond, contributing to the state’s efforts to become cleaner and greener overall.“

Through its subsidiaries, which offer collection, recycling, and disposal services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada, WM advertises itself as North America’s most comprehensive waste management environmental solutions provider.

The University of Portsmouth will host the conference to discuss creative solutions to the worldwide plastics challenge.

In the fall, the University of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England, will host PlasticsFuture 2022, a conference on plastic recycling. Revolution Plastics, a university organization working tobring together scientists , business executives, activists, and people to change how plastic is produced and discarded, is the organization hosting the event.

According to Steve Fletcher, director of the Global Plastics Policy Centre at the University of Portsmouth, “our goal is to establish a conference unlike any other.” “Technology doesn’t have all the answers; to address the global plastic challenge, we want to look at additional undiscovered sources. We think that by integrating a variety of academic fields under one roof, we will spark innovative ideas that will give policymakers a solid evidence base to work from.

The conference’s main objective will be to disseminate research and initiatives from a wide range of stakeholders, including academics, activists, local residents, members of nongovernmental organizations, business leaders, and professionals from across the world. Experts will discuss recent developments, share their experience, and offer fascinating new insights in the fight against plastic pollution.

According to Fletcher, one of the keynote speakers, “the conference’s transdisciplinary orientation will allow a more comprehensive holistic approach to solving plastics concerns and integrate knowledge from all subject sectors.” PlasticsFuture 2022   will ultimately introduce a new philosophical perspective to combating plastic pollution.

Among the keynote speakers are:

-Von Hernandez, a Filipino environmentalist who is the movement’s global coordinator and one of Asia’s leading environmentalists.

-Nelson Munyiri is the creator of the Mukuru Youth Initiative , which empowers youth to act as change agents in their communities.

-Judi Wakhungu, who will also present at Plastics Future 2022, is Kenya’s ambassador to the French Republic, Portugal, Serbia, and the Holy See. She was Kenya’s Minister of Environment and Natural Resources from 2013 until 2018.

Nov. 1-3 will see Plastics Future 2022 at the University of Portsmouth. In July, registration begins. The conference’s organizers are currently soliciting abstracts, quick presentations, posters, performances, exhibitions, and proposals to lead workshops or moderate panels.

The Global Plastics Policy Centre, located at the University of Portsmouth, aims to provide governments and industry organizations with the data they need to make better decisions on plastic policies and identify long-term solutions to combat plastic pollution globally.

A European corporation forms alliances to seal the supply chain for tarps, mattress foam, and other goods.

The German-based polymers manufacturer Covestro AG claims that as it creates technologies to reuse plastics and bring them back into the value cycle, “often in close cooperation with partners,” it is working to “align itself comprehensively with circularity and help make it the global guiding principle.”

One recent partnership, with Swiss backpack and messenger bag manufacturer Freitag, aims to “enable infinite recycling of truck tarps based on thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs),” according to Covestro. According to the company, the tarps will be recycled chemically when their useful lives are through and utilized to make new tarps or other items.

Obtaining resources through mechanical recycling, according to Covestro, has been its primary priority up to this point. More recently, it has begun to look toward chemical recycling methods that include the chemical dissolution of polymer molecules.

Covestro claims that mechanical recycling is “especially ideal for polycarbonates,” and that there are already many Covestro products that fit the bill, such as polycarbonate blends for IT applications that contain up to 75% recovered material.

The company adds that new plastic goods are created from the ground up to be simpler to recycle when their useful lives are through.

According to Covestro, which claims to be leading the effort, a group of commercial partners in the Circular Foam project are looking into methods for chemically recycling stiff polyurethane foam.

According to Covestro, chemical procedures are “the natural choice” for recycling polyurethanes (PU) and other thermoset goods because mechanical recycling is problematic for them. As part of a research study with collaborators, Covestro claims to have created a cutting-edge process for recovering both essential raw ingredients from PU mattress foam.

Producing mattress foam requires the usage of polyols and the isocyanate TDI. The precursor is recovered from the TDI, and after reprocessing, both raw components can be utilized to create new foam. The project’s brand name is Evocycle, and according to the business, “the results achieved to date are being tested in a pilot plant at the Leverkusen [Germany] facility.”

In order to develop recycling collection and processing so that recyclables can ultimately be given to Covestro for chemical recycling, Covestro is collaborating with recycling company Interseroh, a company within the Alba Group. Covestro and Eco-mobilier, a French environmental protection organization that specializes in the gathering and recycling of used furniture, are working together to achieve a similar objective.

According to the company, Covestro is coordinating a research study on circular foam with 22 industry partners from nine different countries. According to Covestro, professionals from science, business, and society intend to create a complete model for the disposal and recycling of such foams over the course of the next four years.

According to the firm, the Circular Foam initiative has the potential to divert up to 1 million metric tons of garbage from the landfill each year in Europe for recycling.

Finland-based Neste Oyj will supply plastic scrap liquefication technology throughout Europe.

The European rights to the plastic trash liquefaction technology created by Ohio-based Alterra Energy have reportedly been acquired by Neste Oyj of Finland. It will “further consolidate” Neste’s “efforts to enhance chemical recycling,” the company claims.

Alterra, according to the Finnish petrochemical company with a growing presence
in sustainable energy, has created a unique thermochemical method for liquefying difficult-to-recycle plastic. The company already has an industrial-scale facility in Akron, Ohio, that converts used plastics into intermediate goods that can then be further processed into raw materials for new plastics and other petrochemical products, according to Neste.

Neste bought a small portion of Alterra Energy in 2020, and the Finnish company claims that since then it has further processed liquefied plastic scrap obtained from Alterra Energy and other sources in a number of test runs at its refinery in Finland.

According to Neste, a joint venture will be established with Ravago of Belgium to use the Alterra Energy technology in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. In order to expand the processing capacities for liquefied plastic scrap at its Porvoo refinery in Finland, Neste says it is conducting a feasibility study to investigate the possibility of investing in proprietary pretreatment and upgrading capabilities.

Heikki Färkkilä, vice president of Neste Renewable Polymers and Chemicals, says, “Acquiring the rights to Alterra Energy’s technology in Europe enables us to offer a holistic solution to our partners. Neste will be able to offer the complete chemical recycling solution, including high-quality drop-in feeds for the synthesis of new polymers and chemicals.

From 2030 on, Neste plans to process more than 1 million tons of plastic annually. According to the company, “Neste is confident that the Alterra Energy technology is among the winning solutions for the liquefaction of waste plastic material due to the ongoing joint technology development between Neste and Alterra Energy and the continued processing of mixed plastic feeds in the Akron facility.

“We are thrilled that Neste, a global leader in sustainability, has chosen Alterra Energy’s sophisticated recycling technology to further accelerate its efforts toward the circularity of plastics throughout Europe,” says Frederic Schmuck, CEO of Alterra Energy. We will continue to assist petrochemical industry participants around the globe in fulfilling their sustainability commitments to brand owners and customers.

Alterra claims that it will carry on independently in the rest of the globe while Neste has obtained the European rights to the technology with the intention of commercializing it through licensing.

It was discovered through testing that the company’s monomaterial polypropylene pouches and rollstock can be sorted into the proper recycling streams.

In order to demonstrate that its monomaterial polypropylene (PP) pouches and rollstock material can be sorted into the proper recycling streams, Mondi, a multinational packaging and paper manufacturer with offices in Austria and the United Kingdom, has successfully performed a number of tests. These experiments were carried out in conjunction with the National Test Centre Circular Plastics (NTCP) in the Netherlands and were created to ascertain the sortability of Mondi’s recyclable PP packaging by replicating genuine packaging waste management settings.

Mondi evaluated prefabricated spouted, standard, and retort pouches as well as top-web and thermoformed semirigid tray materials, according to a news release from the business. These are composed of PP and utilized in demanding applications that necessitate a high level of barrier protection, like wet pet food or processed meat.

The experiments, which mimicked real-world situations, showed that Mondi’s top web and thermoformed semirigid trays are successfully sorted into the right recycling stream. Premade pouches from Mondi were precisely spotted as well, establishing the bar for sorting streams that must yet be created across Europe in order to enable high-quality input for plastic recycling processes.

According to Marcel van Eijk, NTCP’s research and development manager, “We conduct independent testing and trials that help close the plastics cycle.” “We were able to extensively evaluate the sortability of Mondi’s packaging goods by simulating actual situations. We were able to demonstrate that different sorting streams can detect top-web and tray combinations, and that Mondi’s upright pouches support sorting methods that need to be created and applied on a bigger scale.

To meet the plastics recycling goals outlined in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive of the European Commission, Thomas Kahl, channel manager of fast-moving consumer goods & industrial at Mondi Flexible Packaging, says sortation and recycling of plastic scrap must be “significantly improved.”

In order to help achieve this goal, Kahl, a market leader, explains that “we are fully devoted to assessing the sorting performance for our packaging.” The results of the tests demonstrate that our monomaterial polypropylene packaging is identified and sorted into the appropriate sorting stream in cutting-edge waste management facilities. We are especially pleased that challenging applications, like pouches for retort-cooked pet food, were also successful.

The experiments are a part of the business’s Mondi Action Plan 2030 sustainability goals to create circularly driven solutions with cutting-edge paper and packaging solutions, maintain materials in circulation, and reduce waste. By 2025, Mondi intends for all of its packaging and paper products to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable. To this end, the company will closely collaborate with other cross-value chain organizations such as the Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging and 4evergreen to eliminate unsustainable packaging and create uniform designs that adhere to circularity or recycling standards.