Title: Integrated Catalytic Recycling of Plastic Residues Into Added-Value Chemicals
Acronym: iCAREPLAST
EC funding: 6.51 M€
Funding scheme: Innovation Action (IA)
Call for proposal: H2020-NMBP-SPIRE-2018
Grant agreement ID: 820770
Project Coordinator: Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Partners Involved: 10 partners from 5 European countries constitute the consortium:
Advisory Board: stakeholder and 3 multinationals
Starting date: 15/10/2018
Duration: 54 months
Short description: Approximately 70% of European plastic waste (18.5 mt/year) is not being recycled due to technical or economic reasons and are thus sent to landfill (27%) or incinerated (42%). This situation affects negatively the environment in terms of pollution and greenhouse gases emissions, as well as social perception regarding waste management, consumer’s products industry and policy makers.
iCAREPLAST addresses the cost and energy-efficient recycling of a large fraction of today’s non-recyclable plastics and composites from urban waste. Heterogeneous plastic mixtures are converted into valuable chemicals, (alkyl)aromatics, via chemical routes comprising sequential catalytic and separation steps. This multi-stage process also produces carbon char and a pure CO2 stream as products, while offering greater economic sustainability, operational flexibility and a lower CO2 footprint thanks to: the energetic valorisation of gas by-products through innovative oxycombustion units integrated with efficient heat recovery, the use of AI predictive control and real time optimisation.
iCAREPLAST has demonstrated a plastic waste recovery technology in a pilot plant capable of processing >100 kg/h of plastic. The advanced sorting, pre-treatment and pyrolysis of waste has been strongly supported by previous demonstration activities and by the consortium's know-how, with a deep knowledge of waste management and the recycling market.
iCAREPLAST solution will enforce circular economy by substantially increasing the amount of recycled plastics to produce commodity products that can be used for virgin-quality polymers production or as raw materials for other processes in petrochemicals, fine chemicals, automotive and detergent/surfactants industries. As a result of its initial exploitation 12,000,000 Kg/y will be treated, with an operating capacity of 75% of the plant (typical value of industrial operation), of which 508,000 Kg/y of aromatic fraction will ultimately be recovered. Additionally, liquid and gaseous streams of rich-hydrocarbons (including CO2), and solid subproducts (char) are also recovered and valorised to maximise material and energy balance of the overall process, thus minimising environmental footprint and ensuring economic sustainability.
Coordination Team (CSIC):
Laura Almar, email: lauallia@itq.upv.es, phone +34 963877809
For additional information please contact:
icareplast@itq.upv.es
This project has received European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation funding under grant agreement Nº 820770.
Disclaimer: The document reflects only the author’s views and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
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