PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a widely used thermoplastic polymer, with an annual global production of 70Mt and annual growth of more than 4% (IHS Markit, 2018). Around 40% of its use is for plastic packaging and 60% for textiles. PET consumption in the EU was 14.7Mt in 2017, although the bloc’s production capacity is 5.3Mt. The EU lacks the recycling capacity for this level of consumption.
The collected waste streams have different mechanical properties, types and levels of impurities, and the only solution developed on an industrial scale does not allow all plastic types to be recycled. Around a half of all PET plastic waste was incinerated in 2018, with around a quarter landfilled and just a quarter recycled, according to Plastics Recyclers Europe 2020. Furthermore, hardly any PET textile waste was recycled.
Currently, end-of-life PET waste is harmful to the environment, generating pollution at landfill sites and greenhouse gas emissions through incineration. A circular recycling of all types of PET waste is therefore needed.OBJECTIVES
The project aims to develop a circular economy for PET plastics and textiles through infinite enzymatic recycling using a green, economically viable ‘plug and play’ process.
Specifically, the project aims to:
- Depolymerise PET and produce PET monomers from low value (currently poorly recycled) waste streams;
- Enable brand owners to comply with current and forthcoming EU legislation by producing high-value 100% recycled PET by repolymerising purified monomers into recycled PET (meeting the minimum target for 2030 of 30% recycled content);
- Demonstrate the low carbon footprint of the enzymatic PET recycling process in terms of reduced energy consumption and use of resources, as well as its economic viability via a life-cycle assessment; and
- Licence the project technology to a first major EU PET producer by 2023, to a second one by 2025 and to eight others worldwide by 2030.
The project will enable the implementation of EU waste legislation, especially that concerning single-use plastics, along with Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, the Circular Economy Action Plan and its strategies for textiles and for a cleaner and more competitive Europe. Indeed, the directive on single-use plastics sets a target of 50% for the recycling of all plastic packaging by 2025 and a 55% target by 2030.
RESULTS
Expected results:
- 63% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions with no significant detrimental impact on other criteria (air quality, emission of dangerous substances, natural resources, land use, biodiversity) compared to a standard incineration mix of PET waste with energy recovery (67%) and landfill (33%);
- 33% reduction of waste through the targeting of PET waste that is currently incinerated or landfilled, such as coloured and opaque bottles, multilayer trays and post-consumer clothes;
- 122% reduction of energy consumption.
- Reduction in the cost of recycled PET, falling from €1 400 per tonne with mechanical recycling to €1 000 per tonne;
- Construction of the first production plant in Europe at the end of the project with a production of 8Kt in 2024; and
- Creation of at least five jobs during the project and by 2030 an additional 120 jobs at the new plants.
