Plastic waste does not belong in the sea or anywhere else in the environment. But: Plastic has many faces. Therefore, a clear separation between the types of plastic is necessary in order to be able to recycle plastics better. This would make it possible to better recycle the 920,000 tons of plastic waste generated in Austria every year - which would significantly reduce the burden on the environment. In Austria, the recycling rate is currently only 26%. This means there is a need for action: because the EU strategy for plastics provides for a 55% recycling rate by 2030.
A total of 25 well-known partners are working together on the circPLAST-mr research project and are focusing on this important topic in order to increase the proportion of recycled plastics and improve the closed loop for plastics, from production to use by consumers and finally recycling.
The research program has four main objectives:
- Identification and exploration of unused potential for mechanical plastics recycling
- Determination and testing of key process steps in the laboratory/pilot scale
- "Specification-compliant" recyclates for eco-efficient marketability
- Proof of the scalability of the laboratory/pilot process steps to the production scale
Further information on circPLAST-mr can be found here.
