Beneficiaries
Co-financing institutions
Project background
The wide range of plastic applications has made its use ubiquitous and at the same time has contributed to the widespread of plastic waste. PL is the 6th largest consumer of plastics in EU. The use of plastics in PL in 2018 is estimated at 3.5M tons (with 9% ann. increase), while in EU the demand equaled 50.7M tons (PlasticsEurope). Every year, Europeans generate over 29 million tons of plastic waste, but less than a third is collected for recycling (32% vs 42% incineration vs 24% landfilling).
Opportunity to save land, energy, material & money.
The broad range of applications for plastic has resulted in its widespread use and has also contributed to the increase in Plastic Waste.
Poland is the 6th largest consumer of plastics in the EU. The estimated consumption of plastics in Poland in 2018 was 3.5 million tons, while demand in the EU was 50.7 million tons (PlasticsEurope). The use of plastics in PL in 2018 is estimated at 3.5M tons (with 9% ann. increase), while in EU the demand equaled 50.7M tons (PlasticsEurope). Every year, Europeans generate over 29 million tons of plastic waste, but less than a third is collected for recycling (32% vs 42% incineration vs 24% landfilling). Across the world, plastics make up 85% of beach litter.
Close the cycle. Close the deal.
Our solution is a new way of doing business together called the PLC network. It includes everyone in the process of making and using hard plastics and makes sure that everyone benefits. This means that waste disposal places, companies that recycle, and companies that make products from recycled plastic will all work together. This will help to use more recycled plastic materials and reduce waste.
This new business cooperation will only be achievable when the innovative PLC technology is integrated as the heart of the system. The latest recycling solutions are available for only pure/homogeneous plastic fractions (PET, films, etc.). The PLC technology is our innovative solution for sorting heterogeneous hard plastic waste into recyclable fractions and utilizing non-recyclable plastic residue for energy production in the LIFEtec gasification process. The heart of the PLC technology is a 3-PHASE HYDROSTATIC SEPARATOR developed by Investeko SA, guided by the idea of maximizing COST-EFFECTIVENESS both in terms of investment and operation, while ensuring satisfactory performance.
Main goals
The project aims to demonstrate how to benefit from the potential of a plastic fraction that currently in neither recovered or recycled in a new business concept based on circular economy.
The project is to maximize recycling of mixed hard plastic waste and to increase the uptake of recycled plastics in product manufacturing (contribute to reaching 10Mt of recycled plastics in new products by 2025 as set in the European Strategy for Plastics).
This will be achieved with new business cooperation based on:
- the innovative solution for sorting of heterogeneous hard plastic waste stream into recyclable fractions (PLCtechnology)
- two innovative alternatives for systemic uptake of recyclates in high-value products i.e. production of tailored compounds and robotic 3D printing.
Objective 1
to design, implement, test and validate the pilot PLC plant for efficient sorting of mixed hard plastic waste
Objective 2
to implement standardized PLC-compatible procedures for mixed hard plastic waste pre-sorting in municipal waste treatment plants and thus to create standardized waste stream as an input to PLCplant (3,500t/y)
Objective 3
to design, implement, test and validate the pilot unit for production of tailored compounds for products manufacturing with 70-90% recycled material from PLC (capacity 400t/y)
Objective 4
to design, implement, test and validate the innovative mobile 3Dprinting prototype with 100% recycled material from PLC (capacity 65t/y)
Objective 5
to establish new circular business network (i.e. PLCnetwork) to boost cooperation between municipal waste treatment plants, plastic-recyclers and converters (12 plants, 3 countries)
Objective 6
to increase the quality of recycled polyolefins reaching levels of food packaging production - 3 newly developed tailored compounds
Objective 7
to develop 5 market-ready products using bulk amounts (70-100%) of PLC-recycled materials
Objective 8
to prepare PLCtechnology replication&transfer starting with environmental decisions for two full-scale plants
Objective 1
to design, implement, test and validate the pilot PLC plant for efficient sorting of mixed hard plastic waste
Objective 2
to implement standardized PLC-compatible procedures for mixed hard plastic waste pre-sorting in municipal waste treatment plants and thus to create standardized waste stream as an input to PLCplant (3,500t/y)
Objective 3
to design, implement, test and validate the pilot unit for production of tailored compounds for products manufacturing with 70-90% recycled material from PLC (capacity 400t/y)
Objective 4
to design, implement, test and validate the innovative mobile 3Dprinting prototype with 100% recycled material from PLC (capacity 65t/y)
Objective 5
to establish new circular business network (i.e. PLCnetwork) to boost cooperation between municipal waste treatment plants, plastic-recyclers and converters (12 plants, 3 countries)
Objective 6
to increase the quality of recycled polyolefins reaching levels of food packaging production - 3 newly developed tailored compounds
Objective 7
to develop 5 market-ready products using bulk amounts (70-100%) of PLC-recycled materials
Objective 8
to prepare PLCtechnology replication&transfer starting with environmental decisions for two full-scale plants
PROJECT IMPACT
Numbers say more than a thousand words
Reduction of greenhouse gases (tons/year)
5355
Reduction of waste (tons/year)
3500
Dissemination and publicity (workshops & conferences)
60
Recycling capacity (tons/year)
2800
Dissemination
Project aims to reach over 10K individuals with awareness raising actions i.e.:
- 10 intersectoral debates
- 30 expert demo workshops at 3 facilities
- 6 trade shows
- 15 publications
- 30 meetings with plastic converters
- 17 events for local communities
The solution for the management of mixed hard PLASTIC waste by applying CIrCuLar Economy approach.
Investeko S.A.
Wojska Polskiego 16G
41-600 Świętochłowice
tel: 32 258 55 80
fax: 32 707 45 33
biuro@investeko.pl
NIP: 634-281-00-82
REGON: 242953362
KRS: 0000420405
plasticLIFEcycle project no. LIFE21/ENV/PL/074161 has received funding from the LIFE Programme of the European Union and from the Polish National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management
