Recyclable Elastomeric Plastics safely and sUstainably designed and produced via enzymatic Recycling of Post cOnsumer waSte strEams
Abstract
The way plastics are currently made, used and discarded, fails to capture the economic, environmental and societal benefits of a more sustainable approach. Europe produces 25 million tons of plastic waste annually, less than 30% is recycled. Moreover, plastic production, use and disposal may result in the release of chemicals, which may give rise to health and environmental problems. The development of a common understanding and the transition to safe- and sustainable-by-design materials, including plastics, is a societal urgency. In the REPurpose project, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) coming from mixed post-consumer waste is upcycled to new functional PET-X polymeric materials, allowing unprecedented recycling options in the markets of fibers, consumer goods and engineering parts. New building blocks derived from enzymatically degraded polyolefins or bio-based feedstocks will be incorporated giving REPurpose extra and unique functionalities: (i) controllable degradation in different natural habitats, (ii) production, processing and recycling on existing equipment thus avoiding the need for huge capital expenditure investments, and (iii) local European and biobased carbon. The REPurpose project is a showcase of how plastics can be upcycled indefinitely up to 100% while their microplastics are also biodegradable upon leakage or after wearing out. REPurpose sets new standards in combining ultra-local recycling of PET-carbon with biobased or recycled carbon, outcompeting fossil carbon with every upcycling step. The X-factor in REPurpose is causing the new functionality of the materials, which can be designed by the tuned biobased or recycled building blocks that are added to the PET post-consumer waste: non-fossil content steering REPurpose to higher value applications than original PET itself.
plastics plastics waste polyethylene terephthalate recycling strategy
Publikationen
Project staff
Michaela Preßnig
Mag. Dr. Michaela Preßnig
michaela.pressnig@boku.ac.at
Project Leader
17.11.2022 - 31.08.2026
Felice Quartinello
Dr.nat.techn. Felice Quartinello MSc.
felice.quartinello@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-97488
Project Leader
01.09.2022 - 16.11.2022
Lukas Chalwatzis
Lukas Chalwatzis MSc.
lukas.chalwatzis@boku.ac.at
Project Staff
01.09.2022 - 31.08.2026
Georg Gübitz
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Georg Gübitz
guebitz@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-97001, 97402
Project Staff
01.09.2022 - 31.08.2026
Miriam Kronfuß
Dipl.-Ing. Miriam Kronfuß
miriam.kronfuss@boku.ac.at
Project Staff
01.09.2022 - 31.08.2026
Doris Ribitsch
Priv.-Doz. Mag. Dr. Doris Ribitsch
doris.ribitsch@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-97485
Project Staff
01.09.2022 - 31.08.2026
BOKU partners
External partners
Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant
Zsófia Kádár, PhD
coordinator