Summary of the project: The aim of the project is to bring innovative solutions to the development of the recycling of complex plastic and textile wastes in landfills with sustainable processes. Plastic and textile wastes that are not sorted or cannot be sorted in landfills, will be primarily sorted by new innovative technologies and sorted materials will be classified according to their contents. Sorted plastic and textile wastes will be converted/produced back into raw materials with enzymatic and chemical recycling technologies which will be developed in the project. From the raw materials to be recycled, plastic and textile final products will be produced through industrial partners. The project will contribute to the circular economy model by developing sustainable and environmentally friendly techniques and solutions.
Scientific Output/Outcome Expected From the Project: The outputs of the project are; the recycling of plastic and textile wastes in landfills into plastic and textile products with different recycling techniques. The achievements of the project are water, energy and greenhouse emission gains by reusing fossil resources. The chemical recycling methods to be developed in the project will reduce the carbon footprint by 61% to 82% compared to the existing methods, and will provide energy efficiency between 20% and 84% compared to the existing processes. However, 285 tons of waste in application areas and 1869.5 tons of waste in full capacity operation areas will be reduced and disposable wastes will be brought back into the economy. Formation of smart and digitalized plastic value chains and laws and rules in plastic recycling, reduction of non-sorted or non-sortable wastes are among the expected achievements of the project.
Target Group of the Project: The target groups of the project are the institutions/companies dealing with waste management, the institutions/companies that will develop the techniques and processes for the recycling of wastes and the final plastic and textile manufacturing companies and their end use consumers, technical and scientific committees, legislators and public institutions and the waste areas to be reduced as a result of the project and all communities that will benefit from greenhouse gas emissions.
Importance of the project in Tackling Global Challenges: In 2019, 368 million tons of plastic were produced worldwide (57.9 Mt in Europe). While 20% of this plastic waste is recycled, 25% is incinerated and 55% is thrown away. The biggest challenge in increasing the proportion of recycled plastics is, the inability to recycle complex and unsorted/unsortable plastics. This situation has negative effects on the formation of huge landfill areas, the mixing of wastes in the sea and oceans, the deterioration of the ecological balance and the health of living things.The Plastice project will offer solutions to this big problem by developing new sorting methods, developing innovative recycling technologies, and developing new methods, standards and regulations in this field.
Scientific/Social/Economic Innovative Contribution: Scientific: New datasets and evidence about the technical feasibility of the recycling of mixed plastic and textiles streams, including the required processes conditions for the recycling processes, influence of the input material on the processes and product quality and the environmental footprint ofthe processes. Reports, Roadmaps and papers
Economical/technological: Creation of a more sustainable, safe and competitive plastic value chain due to the upscaling and integration of greener and more efficient valorisation processes, smart and digital solutions, and the effective design of new plastic products and processes that avoid the generation of unsortable fractions.
Societal: Reduction of plastic-related pollution and GHG emissions and accessibility to a higher portfolio of recycled plastics products. Creation of learning resources for workers upskilling in the plastic value chain.
Information about other partners in the project: There are total of 23 companies from many different disciplines, technologies, cultures and countries in the project. The partners in the project were selected in a broad range; including the sorting and classification of waste in the landfill, industrial companies, SME’s and Research Laboratories that will carry out different recycling processes, industrial organizations that will produce the final products, academic institutions that will model the studies, companies which will perform artificial intelligence and advertising activities companies.
