New Age of Plastic Recycling is Coming

Even if you try to carefully recycle it, most plastic waste ends up in landfills as trash. Only two kinds of plastic are commonly recycled in the United States: PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and HDPE (high density polyethylene). These the plastics used to water and soft drink bottles and other bottles labeled with the triangle containing 1. HDPE is used in detergent and shampoo bottles, milk and juice bottles and is labeled with a triangle containing 2.  This is the only kind of plastic being accepted by Prince William County for recycling, all the rest should be put in the trash these days.

Worldwide the story is generally worse. Estimates are that of the 359 million tons of plastics are produced annually and  150–200 million tons end up in landfill or littering the natural environment and only about 9% is recycled. PET is the most common polyester plastic, with almost 70 million tons manufactured annually worldwide for use in textiles and packaging.

from Nature

In the past the only way to recycle PET was using thermomechanical means; however, melting down plastics to recycle them changes it consistency. PET from old bottles must be mixed with brand-new plastic to make a sturdy finished bottle that does not crack. Recycling HDPE of various colors makes a dark plastic good for only things like trash cans where color does not really matter.  Consequently, manufacturing from virgin material is preferred and PET waste continues to accumulate. The result has been that all recycled plastic is “down cycled” into lower quality items and could only be recycled once. In contrast, a new technology developed by Carbios enables both PET plastic and polyester textile fibers tobe “upcycled” into a high quality grade of PET suitable for the production ofclear bottles.

Cabios says they “can now produce transparent bottles from polyester textile waste or from post-consumer colored bottles. This works both ways...make a t-shirt from bottles or disposable food trays,”. Carbios has succeeded in producing PET fibers for textile applications with 100% rPTA, from enzymatically recycled PET plastic waste.

from Carbios 

This advance was achieved as part of the CE-PET (Circular Economy PET) research project, of which Carbios is the lead alongside its partner TWB (Toulouse White Biotechnology). This project was financed by ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency). Carbios’ process is an innovative enzymatic waste recycling technology. Their work was funded by the French Government because it is fully in line with European objectives of creating a circular economy and strengthening environmental protection. 

The circular economy is an economy where mankind uses resources sparingly and recycles endlessly. It is a sustainable way of life and is the way we should live. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go. I hope to see this process scaled up to industrial use as well as changes in the design process to manufacture products that are designed to be recycled.