NOVA Chemicals used asphalt modified with a 100%-recycled-polymer additive produced by GreenMantra Technologies in a parking lot at a construction project in Sarnia, Ontario. | Courtesy of NOVA Chemicals
Recent chemical recycling announcements include an in-depth analysis of different technologies, an industry group’s new working group, and the launch of recycled-content products.
Deep dive analysis: Investment firm Closed Loop Partners today (Nov. 17) released a report looking into chemical recycling technologies. The document, produced by the group’s Center for the Circular Economy, “examines their potential role in a circular and safe future for plastics, and the policy, market, and environmental and human health impact conditions needed to achieve this optimal future state,” according to a press release. To produce the report, Closed Loop Partners and its technical partner, Anthesis Group, worked with nine companies across the sector’s three broad categories: purification, depolymerization and conversion. The report shares insights from evaluations of the nine datasets.
Study group formed: The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) announced the creation of a Chemical Recycling Working Group to clarify the “fundamental steps necessary to enable chemical recycling to complement traditional recycling technologies, and what is needed for chemical recycling to become a successful component of the overall recycling infrastructure.” (APR owns Resource Recycling, Inc., publisher of Plastics Recycling Update.) The group will be co-chaired by Carl Wiliams, technical associate at Eastman, and Greg Janson, president and CEO of Granite Peak Plastics.
Recycled asphalt additive: NOVA Chemicals paved a parking lot and two pathways at one of its construction sites using waxes made from chemically recycled plastics. The 100% recycled-content waxes, produced by GreenMantra Technologies, were used as an additive to strengthen asphalt at the Sarnia construction site, where NOVA is building a PE manufacturing plant. This is the second time NOVA has used GreenMantra’s polymer additive in paving. The first, in 2020, involved two 1,700-foot-long pathways at the site. According to a press release, the first test proved the modified asphalt could withstand freeze/thaw cycles, UV rays, moisture and heavy vehicle loads.
Recycled-content bottles: Herbal Essences is the first Procter & Gamble brand to use chemically recycled resin produced by Eastman, the companies announced. Starting this month, five Herbal Essences shampoo and conditional collections will have bottles made from Eastman Renew resin with 50% chemically recycled plastic. Additional products will begin using the resin in January 2022, according to a release.
Ag plastics collaboration: Two companies will collaborate to develop small-scale chemical recycling units that Canadian farmers can use to break down their scrap PE and PP into chemical products. Plastics News reports that Aduro Clean Technologies, which has expertise in a hydrochemolytic technology (HCT) used to break down plastics, signed an agreement with Switch Energy, an Ontario-based recycling company. Together, they’ll work to build a pilot plant in Sarnia, Ontario.
Recycled PP dispenser: PP recycling startup PureCycle Technologies announced the launch of the first product made from PureCycle’s recycled resin: a shower soap dispenser sold by EC30. To make the dispenser, PureCycle processed PP scrap recovered from U.S. stadiums with the company’s recycling and purification technology.
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