Plastics technology centre Aimplas, based in Valencia, Spain, is developing innovative chemical and mechanical recycling solutions to avoid sending complex waste to landfills, such as end-of-life tyres, old mattresses, and wiring.

It is now working on the Neorec project, which is financed by the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with the goal of eliminating the current barriers to recycling this complicated waste.

According to the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA), Europe generates up to four million tonnes of end-of-life tyres each year, with Spain accounting for 300,000 tonnes. The majority of polyurethane foam from the automobile sector, mattresses, and similar products, as well as other difficult-to-recycle plastic trash like wire, is landfilled. Plastics Europe estimates that about 6.5 million tonnes of plastic are disposed of away in landfills each year.

The goal of the chemical recycling technologies being developed at Aimplas is to isolate and select microorganisms that anaerobically biodegrade biopolymers quicker than standard organisms, allowing for a more efficient recycling process.

The use of partial chain-breaking procedures to create plastics with the same basic requirements is also being investigated. 

According to Eva Verdejo, group leader and researcher for chemical recycling, the goal is to reduce resource consumption 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.

Aimplas is partnering on this initiative with raw material manufacturers, converters, waste managers, and recyclers, including Girsa, Acteco, Ube, Omar Coatings, Permarsa, Eslava Plásticos, and PET and Cia, in order to give comprehensive coverage of the entire plastics business.

Aimplas is partnering on this initiative with raw material manufacturers, converters, waste managers, and recyclers, including Girsa, Acteco, Ube, Omar Coatings, Permarsa, Eslava Plásticos, and PET and Cia, in order to give comprehensive coverage of the entire plastics business.