The UK government has recently granted £3.1 m ($4.1 m) to a joint project developing advanced chemical recycling for plastics to produce virgin-quality materials from low-quality plastic waste. Recycling Technologies, a growing UK-based advanced recycling company, is in partnership with industry giants Neste and Unilever to create virgin-quality plastic with chemical recycling.
Despite decades of government and special interest programs, funding, and changing social attitudes towards the environment, plastic products are still consumed and disposed of in vast quantities. Only 30% of plastic waste in Europe is recycled according to the latest figures, and this issue is undoubtedly worse in less developed economies.
A significant factor in this problem is quality – both the quality of plastic waste to be recycled and the quality of recycled plastic products. Plastic waste can be divided into three broad categories depending on recycling potential and processes. Positive-value plastic waste can be easily processed and recycled for profit, and items such as large drinks bottles and broken toys fit into this category.
The majority of recycled plastic feedstocks come from this kind of plastic waste and are processed mechanically. However, this type of recycled plastic is not a high enough quality for many applications, as it is typically used in cable ties and piping.