EU-funded Aimplas project chemically converts unrecyclable plastic waste into additives

15 Jun 2021 --- A European project called Life Ecomethylal has developed a modular chemical recycling system capable of converting 1 kg of non-recyclable waste into 0.5 kg of methylal, a substance used as a solvent and raw material to produce new plastics.

Under Spanish plastic technology company Aimplas’ coordination, the project uses a “highly profitable” technology called Catalytic HydroGasification with Plasma (CHGP) to create methylal.

“The developed technology demonstrated in this project is a modular technology,” Eva Verdejo, chemical recycling group leader, tells PackagingInsights.

“It focuses on medium production capacities (approximately 10,000 tons per year) compared to other thermal treatment type plants with larger production capacities (>100,000 tons per year).” 

Aimplas maintains the obtained products are of interest to the packaging, automotive, electronic and construction industries. The five-year project was co-funded by the EU and is now coming to an end.

The project highlights recycling is preferred to energy recovery but both are above disposal, as per the waste hierarchy (Credit: Life Ecomethylal Layman Report).Cost considerations
The CHGP process allows for less waste transport and more local processes. The plants can be installed in waste management facilities, both in the transformation of plastics for their waste and in recycling plants as complementary processes. 

“The price [of the project’s methylal] is equivalent [to conventional virgin materials], but one has to take into account the environmental benefit of this product,” says Verdejo.

She also flags the cost of landfilling the unrecyclable plastic waste itself, which the CHGP process saves on.

In 2018, 29.1 million metric tons of plastic waste were collected in the EU for treatment. Currently, three-quarters of plastic waste is valued to obtain new recycled materials (32.5% recycled) or energy (42.6%). The remaining quarter, however, is sent to landfill.

Achievements to date
Pilot plants have already developed over 80 percent pure methylal.

Also participating in the project were Valencia-based BPP, Acteco and Airesa, as well as Croatian packaging technology company Mi-Plast. BPP was responsible for implementing chemical recycling using the CHGP process at pilot plant level.

The project result is a small modular pilot plant in operation since late 2019 at three different locations: Castelló and Ibi in Spain, and Rijeka in Croatia.

The pilot consists of two main units: a gasification unit and a synthesis unit. The pilot plant requires small space and low investment, while continuously running and reducing energy consumption.

The pilot plant has achieved a 36 percent process efficiency (kg methylal per kg plastic waste), which could be increased to 50 percent by improving temperature and pressure control at the industrial plant.

The CHGP process can dramatically reduce the amount of landfilled, unrecyclable plastic waste (Credit: Life Ecomethylal Layman Report).Industrial plant expectations
Life Ecomethylal has plans to scale up the pilot plant to an industrial plant, with numerous environmental and economic benefits. An industrial plant is expected to reduce electrical power by 70 percent in the synthesis unit compared to the pilot plant. 

The savings are achieved by collecting and optimizing residual heat flows from the gasification unit and the exothermic reactions of the gas to liquid reactors and the oxidation reactor in the synthesis unit.

The compact size of the technology allows it to be implemented at the waste manager’s facilities, optimizing existing resources and avoiding waste transport. 

Moreover, the modular nature of the technology, with an annual treatment capacity of a maximum of 8,000 Tn/year of plastic waste, allows the rapid implementation with the possibility to expand the plant if necessary to adapt to the treatment capacity of potential clients.

The project demonstrates that waste considered unrecyclable in mechanical recycling can instead be recycled through chemical recycling .Closing the plastics loop
Aimplas is at the forefront of several circular plastics economy projects. In April, Aimplas’ Plastics Technology Centre began supporting a shelf life extension project developing a biodegradable packaging system from avocado waste.

Aimplas also spearheaded an investigation into turning fish and municipal waste into biopolymers and other barrier packaging materials. 

Meanwhile, chemical recycling is becoming an increasingly popular complimentary technology to mechanical recycling. Rabobank forecasts advanced recycling plants to double to around 140 globally by 2025.

“Chemical recycling provides the option to recycle waste considered non-recyclable from a mechanical recycling point of view,” Verdejo underscores. 

“This makes it possible to convert this waste back into resources. Thus, chemical recycling is not a substitute for mechanical recycling; it is a substitute for landfilling this waste.” 

Read more about the potential of chemical recycling for food-grade packaging applications on page 28 of June’s edition of The World Of Food Ingredients.

By Anni Schleicher