Recycling Technologies, Neste Corp. and Unilever, have agreed to collaborate in chemical recycling development to recover and reuse plastic packaging in the UK. The joint project has received a £3.1 million ($4.05 million) grant from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to develop a project aimed at chemically recycling hard-to-recycle plastic packaging.
Under the partnership, Recycling Technologies will convert waste plastic packaging into Plaxx oil. Neste will then analyze and test the quality and suitability of Plaxx to be upgraded into feedstock for the production of sustainable plastics that have on par quality with virgin plastics. Meanwhile, Unilever will bring its expertise on design for recycling for packaging.
The UKRI grant will help the three companies improve, refine, and test Recycling Technologies’ chemical recycling plant currently under construction at Binn Farm in Perthshire, Scotland. Through this partnership, Recycling Technologies will be able to improve its waste plastic processing system optimally and upgrade the Plaxx so Neste can easily further refine the Plaxx at its facilities into high-quality feedstock for new plastics’ manufacturing. The collaboration will demonstrate new added-value applications for waste sachets, films, and pouches, which currently are hard to recycle.
