Imagine trying to separate a mixed bag of melted crayons and glitter; it's almost impossible for current recycling plants. This work creates a set of 'chemical scissors' and heat treatments that break down these stubborn plastics and textiles into their original building blocks. It's like turning a finished Lego castle back into individual bricks so they can be used to build something entirely new.
Current recycling only handles 20% of plastics because complex, contaminated, or multilayer materials cannot be sorted feasibly. This leads to high environmental costs and reliance on fossil-fuel feedstocks.
Four valorization technologies: MW-assisted pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction, combined gasification with chemical post-treatment, and cascade enzymatic hydrolysis.
If you are a waste manager dealing with complex fractions and multilayer materials that cannot be sorted—this project developed new sorting systems and valorization technologies that increase the amount of plastic diverted from landfills.
If you are a textile producer dealing with fabrics containing plastic content that are currently incinerated—this project developed cascade enzymatic hydrolysis and other chemical processes to recover these materials as feedstocks.
If you are a chemical plant dealing with a reliance on fossil fuels for raw materials—this project developed four valorization technologies, including MW-assisted pyrolysis, to provide sustainable, recycled feedstocks.
Based on available project data, specific pricing or operational costs for the technologies are not provided.
The project focuses on the design, development, and demonstration of four technologies under real conditions together with EU waste managers.
Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not listed, though the project aims to contribute to new standards and regulations.
It integrates new sorting systems, quality upgrading technologies, and digitalization tools both upstream and downstream of the valorization processes.
The project period runs from 2022-06-01 to 2026-11-30, suggesting the demonstration phase concludes in late 2026.
The consortium is heavily industry-driven, with 15 industrial partners representing 60% of the 25 total members. This strong commercial presence, combined with 5 SMEs and 6 research entities across 8 countries, indicates a high focus on practical application and market integration rather than purely academic research.
Contact Fundacion Circe Centro de Investigacion de Recursos y Consumos Energeticos in Spain
Contact us to explore licensing opportunities for these four chemical recycling technologies.
