Policymakers across the world have a vital role to play in the transition towards a plastics system that works.
One concrete example is Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, schemes. These systems allow policymakers to connect upstream packaging design with downstream recycling of plastics. EPR is a policy approach in which a producer's responsibility for a product covers the entire product life cycle, from design to the post-consumer phase. Read morePolicy makers and Plastics management systems
gr3n developed an innovative process, based on a new application of microwave technology to a well known chemical reaction to economically recycle PET (Polyethylene Terephtalate) and allows an industrial implementation of this recycling method. This new process can potentially change how PET is recycled worldwide with a huge financial benefit for the recycling industry.
The process involves depolymerization of the PET or polyester textile / bottles i.e. conversion of PET waste into its building blocks (EG and PTA). The ethylene glycol (EG) and terepthalic acid (PTA) molecules can be used to reproduce virgin PET. Thanks to this technology new virgin PET will be produced from those retrieved monomers instead from those coming from oil thus closing the loop. Read More Virgin PET from discarded textile fabric and waste bottles
In 2011, the Finnish company Zen Robotics was first on the waste management scene with their robotic waste sorter. Their system used a combination of computer vision, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) to run synchronized robotic arms to sort and pick recycled materials from moving conveyor belts. The company broke ground with recycling stations that were tied together in a neural network and the AI learned, from real-time feeds providing data from metal sensors, 3D laser cameras and spectroscopic cameras, to select and sort the right items from the belt. Read More Automated Recycling. How robots make their way in recycling
Plastic packaging recycling begins with design. Not well thought design often leads to leftover residue in emptied packages. Recycling processes are very often hampered by inseparable composites of polymers, use of unnecessary additives or by combining plastics with other materials like: paper, metal, fibres in a way that that does not allow for an easy separation. RecyClass an online tool to Asses Recyclability. Read More A new eye to see recycling and design
