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Polychrome can remove virtually all colours and additives from waste plastic. This will disrupt the plastic recycling industry by enabling manufacturers to tap new sources of recyclate.

Project description

New technology towards waste valorisation

The EU-funded PolyChrome project is supporting a new technology that can remove all pigments and additives from mixed-waste polyethylene and polypropylene films and rigids, the two most commonly used plastics. The technology will allow the properties of the end product to be "tuned" to the end application through the selective fractionation of the polymer molecular weights. The project's work will introduce an entirely new way to extract value from recyclate and enable it to be used in a greater variety of applications, for example in food packaging, rotational moulding, injection moulding and 3D printing. Ultimately, the solution will contribute towards Europe's long-term green goals.

Objective

IPP have developed a disruptive new technology (PolyChrome) which can remove all pigments and additives from mixed waste Polyethylene (PE) and Polypropylene (PP) films and rigids, the two most common plastics in use, and allow the properties of the end product to be ‘tuned’ to the end-application through selective fractionation of the polymer molecular weights. This is a unique process in which a mixed waste plastic with a range of properties can fractioned into more useful recycled PE and PP grades. This will be an entirely new way to extract value from recyclate and enable it to be used in vastly more application: food packaging, films, rotomoulding, injection moulding, 3D printing. In doing this project to optimise and pilot Polychrome, recycled plastics will be more valuable and relevant to end market applications making their use far wide spread and increasing the recyclate moving back into packaging and other high end applications.

Polychrome uses solvents to dissolve the recyclate, before filtering to remove any pigments, additives and chemical contamination. This is then coupled with IPP’s proprietary method to selectively precipitating certain Molecular weights in the allowing the output to be tailored for various end-uses. The end product is a clear virgin-like pellet suitable for food grade use. The solvents (green solvents which are not toxic to the environment) used in Polychrome can be reused over 100 times, allowing the process to be cost-effective and are standard within the plastics industry.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Coordinator

REVENTAS LTD
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 541 984,50
Address
16 ABBOTSINCH ROAD
FK3 9UX Grangemouth
United Kingdom

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Scotland Eastern Scotland Falkirk
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 202 835,00
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