CircuPlast - A Green Chemical Recycling Process for PET

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This project will develop CircuPlast, an advanced eco-friendly technology, to recycle waste PET-based plastics (e.g., pots, salad trays, and tubs), by converting them to commodity compounds that can be used to manufacture fresh plastics.Currently, only half of the PET waste in the UK is recycled, with the remainder going to landfill or incineration. This is due to limitations in present-day recycling processes: mechanical recycling is widely utilised but degrades the physical properties of PET, limiting lifespan and useability; pyrolysis converts PET to a mixture of gases, tars and other substances but does not yield the chemicals desired for PET production.Our technology, CircuPlast, utilises the unique powerful properties of hot compressed water (HCW) at elevated pressures and temperatures to convert PET waste into high-value chemical compounds, namely terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG), which can then be used to manufacture fresh PET plastic.This technology will increase the overall recycling rate for PET and thereby help prevent the release of plastic waste into the environment whilst also reducing the carbon emissions associated with plastic manufacture -- by supplanting fossil fuel derived feedstocks with sustainably sourced alternatives.This project will demonstrate the applicability of CircuPlast to PET recycling, employing a laboratory-scale batch reactor to optimise process conditions and generate experimental data, which will be integrated into a computer model of the process and utilised to design an industrial scale continuous process. The scaled-up process design will include PET feedstock preparation, hydrolytic conversion by HCW, and separation of product/by-product streams to achieve an efficient, environmentally friendly route to high purity TPA and EG. Successful outcome will lend an invaluable platform to take the technology forward to a pilot scale demonstrator. As well as helping to address the well-documented issues relating to plastics in the environment, this project will also seek to enable a truly circular economy approach to the management of PET plastics packaging, especially as current mechanical recycling processes are limited to non-contaminated and non-deteriorated PET waste.