On June 7th, 2024, the inau­gu­ra­tion con­fer­ence of plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle project took place in Katow­ice. The con­fer­ence, ded­i­cat­ed to inno­v­a­tive meth­ods of plas­tic recy­cling and 3D print­ing tech­nol­o­gy, pro­vid­ed a unique oppor­tu­ni­ty for gath­er­ing experts, sci­en­tists, and enthu­si­asts of ecol­o­gy and sus­tain­able devel­op­ment. The event fea­tured insight­ful pre­sen­ta­tions, pan­el dis­cus­sions, and net­work­ing ses­sions aimed at fos­ter­ing col­lab­o­ra­tion and shar­ing the lat­est advance­ments in the field.

Below, you will find pho­tos, infor­ma­tion about the speak­ers, pre­sen­ta­tions, and a short video from the con­fer­ence.

 

 

This pio­neer­ing ini­tia­tive is cru­cial for pro­mot­ing and imple­ment­ing mod­ern and eco-friend­ly solu­tions in the indus­try. Dur­ing the con­fer­ence, par­tic­i­pants had the oppor­tu­ni­ty to share knowl­edge, acquire new skills, and estab­lish valu­able con­nec­tions.

    

The con­fer­ence pro­vid­ed an excel­lent plat­form for exchang­ing inno­v­a­tive ideas and expe­ri­ences, which con­tributed to rais­ing aware­ness about mod­ern and eco-friend­ly solu­tions in plas­tic recy­cling.

Short showreel from the con­fer­ence: https://vimeo.com/970422898

 

What hap­pened at the event?

The con­fer­ence fea­tured many inter­est­ing pre­sen­ta­tions and a net­work­ing ses­sion. Here are some of the key high­lights from the pro­gram:

 

Pre­sen­ta­tion of the Lat­est Plas­tic Recy­cling Meth­ods

The speak­ers show­cased cut­ting-edge tech­nolo­gies and solu­tions for plas­tic recy­cling. They dis­cussed tech­niques for waste sort­ing and pro­cess­ing that can great­ly improve recy­cling effi­cien­cy. Par­tic­u­lar empha­sis was placed on tech­nolo­gies designed to recov­er high-puri­ty sec­ondary mate­ri­als, which are essen­tial for the sus­tain­able reuse of plas­tics in the cre­ation of new prod­ucts. These advance­ments have the poten­tial to not only rev­o­lu­tion­ize exist­ing recy­cling prac­tices but also to sig­nif­i­cant­ly lessen the envi­ron­men­tal impact of plas­tic waste.

How to Secure Fund­ing for Eco-Friend­ly Projects

Atten­dees had the chance to explore avail­able finan­cial sup­port pro­grams for pro-envi­ron­men­tal ini­tia­tives. This pro­vid­ed them with valu­able infor­ma­tion that can aid in the devel­op­ment of many ambi­tious projects. Experts detailed the grant appli­ca­tion process and offered strate­gies for effec­tive­ly secur­ing funds for envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion endeav­ors.

Expert Ses­sions

The con­fer­ence became a venue for shar­ing expe­ri­ences and inspi­ra­tion. Experts from diverse fields impart­ed their knowl­edge, moti­vat­ing atten­dees to con­tin­ue their efforts towards sus­tain­able devel­op­ment. It was a unique oppor­tu­ni­ty for par­tic­i­pants to ask ques­tions and receive prac­ti­cal advice. The pan­el dis­cus­sion with spe­cial­ists in ecol­o­gy, tech­nol­o­gy, and finance pro­vid­ed answers to urgent ques­tions and deep­ened par­tic­i­pants’ under­stand­ing of the lat­est trends and prac­tices in envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion.

 

3D Print­ing in Sup­port of Recy­cling

One of the cen­tral top­ics was the role of 3D print­ing in the recy­cling process. The con­fer­ence explored the ben­e­fits of this tech­nol­o­gy for both the envi­ron­ment and the econ­o­my. It demon­strat­ed how 3D print­ing can be used to cre­ate prod­ucts from recy­cled mate­ri­als, effec­tive­ly clos­ing the mate­r­i­al loop and reduc­ing waste. Prac­ti­cal demon­stra­tions and case stud­ies illus­trat­ed how mod­ern mate­ri­als and 3D print­ing tech­niques can be employed across dif­fer­ent sec­tors, from med­i­cine to auto­mo­tive, to pro­duce more sus­tain­able and eco-friend­ly prod­ucts.

Con­fer­ences like plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle play a key role in pro­mot­ing and imple­ment­ing inno­v­a­tive and envi­ron­men­tal­ly friend­ly solu­tions. They pro­vide a plat­form for col­lab­o­ra­tion, edu­ca­tion, and inspi­ra­tion, which is essen­tial for achiev­ing sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion.

Net­work­ing and Exchange of Expe­ri­ences

The con­fer­ence served as a prime oppor­tu­ni­ty for estab­lish­ing new con­tacts and shar­ing expe­ri­ences. Par­tic­i­pants were able to dis­cuss the top­ics cov­ered and exchange ideas for pro-envi­ron­men­tal actions. It was a unique chance for net­work­ing, engag­ing in dis­cus­sions, and explor­ing future col­lab­o­ra­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties for eco­log­i­cal projects.

Con­fer­ence Pro­gram and Speak­ers


 

Mate­ri­als Avail­able for Online View­ing:

The con­fer­ence was opened by Arka­diusz Primus, Pres­i­dent of INVESTEKO S.A. and Project Man­ag­er of plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle.

Fol­low­ing pre­sen­ta­tions includ­ed:

  1. plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle Project
    Arka­diusz Primus, Pres­i­dent of INVESTEKO S.A. and Project Man­ag­er of plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle
    Watch on Vimeo
  2. Envi­ron­men­tal Tech­nol­o­gy Ver­i­fi­ca­tion in the Process of Imple­ment­ing Inno­v­a­tive Solu­tions: How to Avoid Mar­ket Fail­ure
    Izabela Rat­man-Kłosińs­ka, Head of Envi­ron­men­tal Tech­nol­o­gy Ver­i­fi­ca­tion Unit, LIFE­proETV Project Coor­di­na­tor, Insti­tute of Ecol­o­gy of Indus­tri­al Areas
    Watch on Vimeo
  3. Plas­tic Waste Recy­cling from the Per­spec­tive of Munic­i­pal Waste Pro­cess­ing Facil­i­ties
    Bar­tosz Wydra, Pres­i­dent of the Man­age­ment Board at MPGO Sos­nowiec
    Watch on Vimeo
  4. 3D Print­ing and Ecol­o­gy
    Doro­ta Kawa, AM Man­ag­er, 3D Print­ing Mate­ri­als Cen­ter, Gru­pa Azo­ty
    Józef Jas­nosz, Imple­men­ta­tion Man­ag­er, Imple­men­ta­tion Cen­ter, Gru­pa Azo­ty
    Watch on Vimeo
  5. Live Prod­uct Inno­va­tion: From Waste to Prod­uct
    Piotr Góral, Pres­i­dent of IVE Labs
    Watch on Vimeo
  6. Fund­ing under the LIFE Pro­gram for Tech­no­log­i­cal Inno­va­tions in Recy­cling
    Łukasz Łapińs­ki, INVESTEKO S.A.
    Watch on Vimeo

 

The plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle Con­fer­ence Series: A Unique Oppor­tu­ni­ty for Net­work­ing in Sus­tain­abil­i­ty and Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion

The plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle con­fer­ence series pro­vides a one-of-a-kind plat­form for con­nect­ing with those com­mit­ted to sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion.

We invite you to join us for the next edi­tion of the plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle con­fer­ence, com­ing in a few months. Details will be avail­able soon. This will be an excel­lent oppor­tu­ni­ty to dis­cov­er inno­v­a­tive plas­tic recy­cling meth­ods and 3D print­ing tech­nolo­gies.

Stay updat­ed by vis­it­ing our web­site or PLC web­site and fol­low­ing us on social media for the lat­est news and announce­ments about future events!

On Feb­ru­ary 14, 2024, EkoPart­ner Sile­sia host­ed an indus­try meet­ing as part of a series of train­ing work­shops. The pri­ma­ry objec­tive of this gath­er­ing was to intro­duce the waste sort­ing stan­dard for PLC plant.

Accord­ing to this stan­dard, hard plas­tics con­sti­tute a mix­ture of items whose char­ac­ter­is­tics over­lap, encom­pass­ing items such as buck­ets, box­es, flower pots, and gar­den fur­ni­ture. Con­verse­ly, items such as pipes, house­hold chem­i­cal pack­ag­ing, and auto­mo­tive waste fall out­side this defined cat­e­go­ry of hard plas­tics.

Fur­ther­more, the ses­sion delved into dis­cus­sions sur­round­ing the cir­cu­lar econ­o­my, empha­siz­ing the col­lec­tive effort required to close the plas­tic cycle by trans­form­ing waste into valu­able prod­ucts. Through col­lab­o­ra­tive action, we can pave the way towards a more sus­tain­able future.

We extend our appre­ci­a­tion to FCC, Alba Pol­s­ka, Marter Tychy, PreZe­ro, and Sego for their pres­ence and par­tic­i­pa­tion in the event.

Below a pho­to col­lage  from the event:

 

 

 

Project coor­di­na­tor — INVESTEKO S.A., as the recip­i­ent of “com­pa­ny that most effec­tive­ly uses LIFE Pro­gramme funds” award from the Nation­al Fund for Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion and Water Man­age­ment (NFEP&WM), had been accord­ed a spe­cial invi­ta­tion to par­tic­i­pate in the LIFE Infor­ma­tion Day event.

This event, cel­e­brat­ing 15 years of col­lab­o­ra­tion between LIFE Pro­gramme and the NFEP&WM, took place on Jan­u­ary 11, 2024, in War­saw, Poland.

At this sig­nif­i­cant occa­sion, INVESTEKO S.A. (project man­ag­er Mr Arka­diusz Primus) show­cased among oth­ers plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle project and shared his exper­tise with atten­dees, shed­ding light on the process of secur­ing EU fund­ing through the LIFE Pro­gramme and effec­tive­ly exe­cut­ing such envi­ron­men­tal­ly impact­ful projects.

The event, orga­nized on-site, fea­tured keynote speech­es by dis­tin­guished rep­re­sen­ta­tives from key enti­ties such as the Euro­pean Cli­mate, Infra­struc­ture and Envi­ron­ment Exec­u­tive Agency (CINEA), the Pol­ish Min­istry of Cli­mate and Envi­ron­ment and the NFEP&WM. The rep­re­sen­ta­tives enlight­ened the audi­ence about the diverse oppor­tu­ni­ties pre­sent­ed by the LIFE Pro­gramme.

An inte­gral aspect of the event was the oppor­tu­ni­ty to explore the stands of var­i­ous LIFE Projects, with the plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle project proud­ly host­ing its own stand.

Engag­ing in live con­ver­sa­tions with rep­re­sen­ta­tives who have suc­cess­ful­ly nav­i­gat­ed the intri­ca­cies of the LIFE Pro­gram and are cur­rent­ly over­see­ing their own LIFE projects offered a unique chance to exchange invalu­able expe­ri­ences. This exchange serves not only as a source of inspi­ra­tion but also as prac­ti­cal guid­ance.

 

 

 

 

Beneficiaries
Co-financing institutions

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

Reduction of greenhouse gases (tons/year)

5355

Reduction of waste (tons/year)

3500

Dissemination and publicity (workshops & conferences)

60

Recycling capacity (tons/year)

2800

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