Removing hazardous substances to increase recycling rates of WEEE, ELV and CDW plastics

Project: EU project

Project Details

Description

The overall objective of NONTOX is to increase the recycling rates of plastics waste containing hazardous substances by developing and optimising recycling processes to produce safe and high quality secondary plastic materials and by optimising the overall process economics by integration. Increasing recycling rates is crucial for the implementation of a circular economy as clearly stated in the EU Plastic Strategy. NONTOX focuses on the removal of hazardous and undesired substances from plastic waste taking into account the whole value chain: sorting and pre-treatment techniques, recycling technologies but also post-treatment techniques. Valorisation of by-products and removed substances is also considered to enhance potential applications. NONTOX will target material recovery of plastics originating from WEEE, ELV and C&DW streams containing hazardous additives or undesired compounds such as flame-retardants, stabilizers, fillers, etc. Main secondary plastic outputs will include for example, ABS, EPS, PS, HIPS, PE, PP. The market for these polymers is massive as together they represent about half of the EU demand for plastics and yet a significant portion of these valuable plastics is landfilled or incinerated. NONTOX will further develop two different technologies (Extruclean and CreaSolv®) to remove hazardous substances from aforementioned plastic waste streams, allowing for increased recycling rates. NONTOX will also improve knowledge and state of the art concerning pre-treatment and sorting of plastic waste containing hazardous substances. Thermochemical conversion of non-target plastics and side streams from the main recycling processes will be investigated to increase system efficiency by integration and widen the range of final products and applications. NONTOX is conceived by a multidisciplinary consortium including internationally renowned RTOs, universities, key industrial partners and recyclers as well as product design experts.
AcronymNONTOX
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date1/06/1930/11/22

Collaborative partners

  • VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (lead)
  • Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V.
  • University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli
  • Relight S.r.l.
  • IMDEA Energy Institute
  • Asociación de investigación en materiales plásticos y conexas (AIMPLAS)
  • Stena Recycling AB
  • Galea Polymers S.L.
  • Consorzio Italiano Recupero e Riciclaggio Elettrodomestici (ECODOM)
  • Norner Research AS
  • Aalto University
  • Coolrec B.V.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This project contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

Funding category

  • EU-H2020

Keywords

  • H2020-SC5-2018-2
  • Design-Manufacturing
  • H2020-EU.3.5.4.
  • H2020-EU.3.5.3.2.