The growing volume of packaging waste is one of the main environmental and social problems today. The complexity of these materials, as well as their degradation or contamination when it comes to post-consumer materials, often limits the efficiency of conventional mechanical recycling processes, leaving large flows of waste without added value

Miriam Lorenzo, Sergio Clemente and Antonio Dobón - ITENE

 

Given this context, chemical recycling processes are not seen as competition for conventional mechanical recycling, but rather as an alternative for dealing with fractions that are difficult to treat, such as multilayer plastics, mixed, contaminated, or degraded fractions. The aim is to enable the reintroduction of recycled materials into the value chain, reducing dependence on fossil materials and contributing to circularity in the packaging sector.

 

ITENE, as a reasearch center for packaging and transport, has developed and validated chemical recycling solutions that enable complex packaging waste to be transformed into recycled monomers and chemical compounds. These technologies not only increase the effective recycling rate of packaging waste, but also open emerging business opportunities in the...READING MORE AT https://www.infopack.es/revista/328/index78.html