This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101058670.

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PRecycling project presented during the Workshop “Circularity and industrial symbiosis strategies in the plastic industry”

On 10 April, the PRecycling project was presented during the workshop “Circularity and Industrial Symbiosis Strategies in the Plastic Industry”, hosted by the partner AIJU. The objectives and latest achievements of the project were highlighted by Phd. Ana Ibáñez, Project Manager at AIJU, in the context of the presentation titled “Advances in the homogenization of recycled materials from plastic waste to ensure their quality”.
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The core of the workshop focused on the need to assess the current legislative framework and research advancements in the plastic field, including the latest developments on the recently enforced Plastic Tax as well as recycled plastic content certifications, as well as the linked identified gaps, with the objective of supporting the industry to adapt to the new requirements at the EU level, through a specific focus on R&D efforts and their contribution in fostering the achievement of a fully circular economy across the Member States.
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Phd. Ibáñez’s presentation highlighted the main obstacles that currently limit the increase of the use of recyclates on the EU market, highlighting how out of the 430 million tonnes produced annually, more than half is landfilled. The main barriers to the recyclates’ uptake were identified in the lack of traceability, presence of chemical substances banned by the EU level legislation, potential loss of mechanical properties during the recycling phase, issues related to coloring, deficiency of collection infrastructure as well as wrong consumer perception and lack of awareness.
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Thus, the importance of incrementing the research efforts on new methodologies that can ensure high-quality for recycled materials was stressed, underlying how this pivotal goal can be achieved only by guaranteeing that recyclates have properties and performances comparable to those of virgin materials.
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During the webinar, the PRecycling project was credited as one of the main contributors to the circular mission, due to its commendable input to the development of disruptive methodologies to ensure the quality of recycled materials in the fields of home appliances, toys, and textiles. Dr. Ibáñez underlined how the PRecycling’s objectives to develop a methodology for sorting, sampling, tracing, and recycling plastic waste streams, including detection and separation of legacy additives, in order to produce consistently high-quality, safe-to-use recyclates, will greatly support the increase of the recyclates’ quality and quantity in everyday products against the use of virgin materials.
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Continue following the PRecycling communication channels to stay updated on the latest project’s development and its participation in key events both at the EU and national levels.