Enabling the circular economy: Microwave Assisted Pyrolysis of plastic film and flexible packaging

塑料是一种非常有用的材料，最近在新冠肺炎大流行期间得到了强调。对防护设备的需求，如口罩、超市收银台的亚克力屏风、家庭购物快递中的一次性塑料袋等，导致了需求的戏剧性增长。然而，在世界各地，每年都有数百万吨塑料被浪费。尽管现在有技术可以机械地回收大部分被丢弃的硬塑料，但软材料(如薄膜和软包装)很难加工，因此被运往垃圾填埋场或焚烧，对环境造成毁灭性影响。Sylatech Ltd(英国精密射频微波工程组件制造商)与ENVA(领先的回收资源回收解决方案提供商)和Biorenewables开发中心(将废物转化为产品的著名研发中心)合作，正在开发一种新的、增强的回收技术，称为微波辅助热解(MAP)。使用这一新工艺，高能微波将塑料垃圾转化为有用的分子，在没有氧气的情况下对其进行加热，以打破其化学键(即热解)。由于这种效应，这种方法通常被称为“化学”回收，但由于该过程的高温条件，有时被称为“热”回收。最终的结果是回收分子构建块(油)，从中可以制造新的初级级塑料。世界经济论坛的一份报告估计，高达95%的塑料包装材料价值(或每年800-1200亿美元)在短暂的首次使用后损失在经济上。这个项目将有助于减少这种巨大的价值浪费，将塑料留在属于它的供应链中，而不是它不属于的环境中。[1\]http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF\_The\_New\_Plastics\_Economy.pdf

Plastic is an incredibly useful material, emphasised recently during the Covid-19 pandemic. The need for protective equipment such as face-masks, acrylic screens at supermarket check-outs, and single-use plastic bags in home shopping deliveries etc., has resulted in a dramatic surge in demand.However, across the world, millions of tonnes of plastic are wasted every year. Despite the fact that technology now exists to mechanically recycle much of the 'hard' plastic that is discarded, 'soft' material (such as film and flexible packaging) is difficult to process and therefore consigned to landfill or incineration where it has a devastating effect on the environment.Together with Enva (a leading provider of recycling resource recovery solutions) and The Biorenewables Development Centre (a renown R&D centre converting waste into products), Sylatech Ltd (a UK manufacturer of precision RF Microwave engineering components) is developing a new, enhanced recycling technology called Microwave Assisted Pyrolysis (MAP) to address this issue.Using this novel process, high-energy microwaves convert plastic waste into useful molecules by heating it in the absence of oxygen in order to break its chemical bonds (i.e. pyrolysis). This methodology is often termed "chemical" recycling due to this effect, but is sometimes referred to as "thermal" recycling due to the high temperature conditions of the process. The end result is the recovery of molecular building blocks (oil), from which new virgin-grade plastic can be made.A report by the World Economic Forum has estimated that up to 95% of plastic packaging material value (or $80-120bn annually) is lost to the economy after a short first use \[1\]. This project will help to mitigate this colossal waste of value, keeping plastics in the supply chain where it belongs, and out of the environment where it doesn't.\[1\] http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF\_The\_New\_Plastics\_Economy.pdf