UK Innovation Agency Awards Funding to Recycling Technology Consortium
Innovate UK awarded funding to support Stopford and Birmingham University’s collaboration, which uses supercritical water to break down plastic.
A research consortium has been awarded an additional £300,000 of funding from Innovate UK to develop a plastic recycling technology. The consortium includes technologists from the University of Birmingham and Stopford, an engineering firm.
Supercritical water depolymerization could be used in recycling PET containers.
Photo Credit: Stopford
The consortium is developing a plastic recycling technology that uses supercritical water to depolymerize waste plastics into commodity compounds.
Under supercritical conditions, water exhibits reduced polarity and therefore higher solvating power for complex polymers. The process is capable of producing target products in high proportions, which can be used to displace virgin fossil fuel materials in resin production.
The additional funds will be used to adapt the technology to PET-based waste such as pots, salad trays, and tubs. The team is also working to establish a demonstration facility for the recycling of polyolefins.
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