PLASTICE

PLASTICE PROJECT – Overview

The challenges of managing plastic waste nowadays associated with the presence of multilayer materials, contaminants, and other types of wastes results in a considerably low recycling rate at ca. 20% of produced plastic, with most of the remaining fraction being destined to landfill or incineration. Following the consequential environmental impacts of the current plastic waste management situation, so as the need to develop and promote new circular value chains for plastic waste streams, the PLASTICE project was conceived. Comprising a consortium of 23 multidisciplinary leading European research/academic institutions organised under a robust governance structure, PLASTICE aims to implement new solutions of plastics chemical recycling that could complement the current mechanical recycling technologies, in order to increase the volume of recycled material and contribute to closing the loop of end-of-life plastics.

Aligned with most relevant roadmaps of chemical recycling technologies at European level, PLASTICE main efforts are focused on the development, up-scaling and demonstration of four chemical recycling technologies: (i) MW-assisted pyrolysis and (ii) hydrothermal liquefaction (PP, PE and PS recycling into synthetic oil to be further upgraded towards polyolefins)); (iii) Combined gasification and chemical post-treatment (Solid Recovered Fuels into DME and further catalytic conversion towards polyolefins) and (iv) Cascade enzymatic hydrolysis (PET-cotton mix filaments and PU coatings from textile waste into recycled polyester fibers and PU). These chemical recycling processes address both upstream and downstream steps, developing and integrating optimised innovative sorting systems for this purpose, so as quality upgrading technologies, digitalisation tools and eco-design principles, together with new business models for the circularity of each value chain.

Specific Topic for HSbooster

Within the scope of PLASTICE, a core activity comprises identifying potential gaps in standardisation and/or the need of standards revision to support and promote the marketability of PLASTICE´s solutions. This means, for instance, the submission of technical proposals and/or the elaboration of new standard(s) or pre-standard document(s), while evaluating potential contributions to standardisation groups.  These actions will not only be relevant to the project implementation, but also might have significant impact to the industrial landscape in the medium term. As a consequence, the replication of the project will be supported by contributing to the aforementioned development of new standards and regulations, together with the creation of a multi-actor community of followers supported by PLASTICE tools and consortium.

It is envisaged to request assistance in the development of a tailor-made standardisation roadmap, outlining in detail the steps necessary to harmonise our final product in compliance with industry benchmarks for recycled plastic to be used for packaging production. Assessing how the regulation landscape applies and should apply to olefins that are a result of PLASTICE technologies. In this regard, the roadmap should act as a comprehensive guide that seamlessly integrates our recycled plastic products into existing regulatory frameworks. This is perceived as essential to demonstrate compliance with current and/or foreseen industry standards and to gain the support of the relevant standardisation groups.

Reason for applying to HSbooster.eu services

Expected Results from the HSbooster Service:

• Starting point: the project has collected information about the regulatory faced by the different demosites and partners involved in the project.
• Expectation from HSbooster: To identify the gaps in the EU regulatory framework and the main standards already in place in the plastic recycling process.