Recycling Technologies: A sustainable manufacturing platform for the chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste into high value products

根据塑料欧洲公司的数据，2018年，全球塑料产量接近3.6亿吨。其中，约2.6亿吨最终成为废物。麦肯锡公司2016年的一项研究发现，只有16%的垃圾被收集起来回收，实际回收的只有12%。其余的要么被焚烧，要么被填埋，要么干脆消失在环境中。然而，避免完全使用塑料将承担许多意想不到的后果。因此，我们必须为其报废找到解决方案，以便我们能够继续从这一宝贵的产品中获益。塑料废物的化学回收是实现零可避免废物的重要组成部分。它将使机械回收商变得更有效和更有利可图；目前在其工艺结束时遗留下来的低价值塑料材料可以被接受为原料回收，减轻在其他地方处置这种材料的财政和环境负担。在一个机械回收和化学回收协同工作的系统中，我们设想回收高达90%的塑料。随着这种新系统的广泛采用，塑料可以逐渐与化石燃料脱钩。我们将发展一个可持续的、集成的、分布式的制造平台的商业概念，将混合塑料废物化学回收成高价值产品，专门用于塑料制造中的再利用。该制造平台将整合可再生能源，以产生升级过程所需的绿色氢气(通过电解)，这是一种最先进的模块化振荡折流板反应器(OBR)。其目的是实现一个综合反应器，提高产品质量和后续加工的适宜性，尽管组件将是模块化的，以确保其他可再生和可持续的碳源(如木质纤维素生物质)的原料灵活性。将开发一对数字孪生兄弟，以便从一开始就嵌入网络物理生产系统的概念，以实现响应式和分布式制造模式。RT7000机器通过目前最先进的(机械回收)或焚烧，利用目前难以回收的废塑料创造市场价值。尽管焚烧可以从废塑料中回收能量，但这些塑料的替代仍然需要一个使用原始原料的线性系统(来源、生产、处置)。在寻求让废旧塑料重新循环并减少自然资源消耗方面，这种机器可能是一个重要的工具。RT通过一种使用热裂解的创新工艺将塑料回收到Plaxx(R)(碳氢化合物混合物)中。

According to PlasticsEurope, in 2018, nearly 360 million tonnes of plastic were produced globally. Of this, around 260 million tonnes ended up as waste. A study by McKinsey&Co in 2016 found that just 16% was collected for recycling, and just 12% actually recycled. The rest was either incinerated, landfilled, or simply lost to the environment. However, to avoid using plastic altogether will bear many unintended consequences. Therefore, it is imperative that we find a solution for its end-of-life so we can continue to reap the benefits of this valuable product. Chemical recycling of plastic waste is an essential component in achieving zero avoidable waste. It will enable mechanical recyclers to become more effective and profitable; the low-value plastic material that is currently left over at the end of their process can be accepted into feedstock recycling, alleviating the financial and environmental burden of disposing of this material elsewhere. Under a system where mechanical and chemical recycling work together, we envisage recycling up to 90% of all plastics. With the widespread adoption of this new system, plastic can gradually be decoupled from fossil fuel. We will develop a commercial concept for a sustainable, integrated, distributed manufacturing platform for the chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste into high value products, specifically for reuse in plastics manufacturing. The manufacturing platform will integrate renewable energy to generate green hydrogen (via electrolysis) required for the upgrading process in a state-of-the-art modular oscillatory baffled reactor (OBR). The aim is to realise an integrated reactor that will deliver improvements in product quality and suitability for onward processing, although components will be modular to ensure feedstock flexibility for other renewable and sustainable carbon sources (such as lignocellulosic biomass). A digital twin will be developed to allow the concepts of a cyber physical production system to be embedded from the outset in order to realise a responsive and distributed manufacturing model. The RT7000 machine creates market value from waste plastics which are currently hard-to-recycle via the current state-of-the-art (mechanical recycling) or incineration. Although incineration recovers energy from waste plastic, the replacement of those plastics still requires a linear system (source, produce, dispose) using virgin feedstock. This machine could be a significant tool in the quest to bring the waste plastic back into circularity and reduce the depletion of natural resources. RT recycles plastics into Plaxx(r) (Hydrocarbon mixture) through an innovative process which uses thermal cracking.