From Waste Stream to Value Chain: Chemistry Strategies for Plastics Recycling Processes

The combination of company ambitions/circularity commitments, evolving regulations across the globe requiring increasing recycled content, and stakeholder expectations is driving a need for higher quantities of recycled plastics. Traditional mechanical recycling provides a low cost and low CO2 emission solution for many applications, but many packaging applications have needs for even higher quality/higher purity recyclate for applications such as food and drug packaging, sensitive hygiene categories (e.g. diapers, fem care products), and complex technical applications such as clear/translucent films or hard to recycle materials. Applying chemistry based solutions to recycling processes can help solve the challenges and enable greater circularity of plastics and is happening today both at scale and in development across established chemical companies and startups alike.