The Neorec Project: Aimplas turns rubber tires and mattresses into recycled plastic

21 Mar 2022 --- Spanish research group Aimplas is launching a group of advanced and mechanical recycling solutions to convert rubber tires and other sources of complex waste back into the plastics value chain for packaging and other applications.

Branded the Neorec Project, it will be funded by the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI) in Spain and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to reduce current limitations on recycling waste like hard-to-recycle plastics, rubber and wire. These kinds of waste usually emerge from the polyurethane foam from the automotive industry, mattresses and similar products, usually landfilled. 

According to Plastics Europe, more than 6.5 million tons of plastic are sent to landfills each year. Meanwhile, the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association estimates up to four million metric tons of end-of-life tires are generated each year in Europe, and Spain alone accounts for 300,000 metric tons. 

Work is also being done to use partial chain-breaking processes to obtain plastics with the same initial specifications. According to Eva Verdejo, chemical recycling group leader and researcher, the goal is “to reduce the consumption of resources by reintroducing high value-added materials back into the value chain and generating products and by-products that can be used in the plastics industry, thus minimizing the environmental impact of waste accumulation.” The Neorec Project will turn wasted tires and other hard-to-recycle materials into usable plastic.

Use of microorganisms
The chemical recycling processes being studied include anaerobic degradation. The aim is to isolate and select microorganisms that anaerobically biodegrade biopolymers faster than conventional organisms, which will help establish a more efficient recycling process.

To provide broad coverage of the entire plastics industry, Aimplas is collaborating on this project with raw material manufacturers, converters, waste managers and recyclers, including Girsa, Acteco, Ube, Omar Coatings, Permarsa, Eslava Plásticos and PET & Cia. 

The Neorec Project is funded by the Sustainable Economy, Production Sectors, Trade and Employment of the Valencian Community through IVACE funds and co-funded by ERDF within the Operational Programme of the Valencian Community 2014-2020. 

These grants are targeted at technology centers in the Valencia Region in Spain for the development of non-economic R&D projects carried out in cooperation with companies for the financial year 2021.

Aimplas’ aims
The Neorec Project joins a variety of initiatives launched by Aimplas over the past year. In 2021, the group began coordinating a project called Life Ecomethylal, which 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. 

Similarly, under a project named Dafia, the group began releasing the results of an investigation into turning fish and municipal waste into biopolymers and other barrier packaging materials last year. The researchers say they have optimized extraction techniques to obtain gelatine and low-molecular-mass nucleic acids from salmon skin, viscera and backbones using herring stock and herring milt as raw materials.

By Louis Gore-Langton