Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ISOPREP (Ionic Solvent-based Recycling of Polypropylene Products) Okres sprawozdawczy: 2020-04-01 do 2021-03-31 Podsumowanie kontekstu i ogólnych celów projektu Polypropylene (PP) is the world’s second most widely used commodity polymer after polyethylene (PE), accounting for 13% of total usage by value (23% by volume) and is used in packaging, textiles, furnishings, pipes and even banknotes. As an oil-derived polymer, PP is a non-sustainable resource as well as an increasing pollution problem since less than 1% of PP is currently recycled. A notable source of PP waste comes from used carpet. In the UK alone ~400,000 tonnes of waste carpet is produced each year of which 66% (264,000 tonnes) ends up directly going to landfill.Current recycling methods for PP rely on mechanical processing. This results in an impure product that can only be used for lower value applications or ‘down-cycling’ rather than true recycling. By contrast, the aim of the ISOPREP project is to develop a process that recycles end-of-life PP back into its original virgin quality, rendering it suitable for re-use in high value applications.ISOPREP focuses on an innovative, alternative approach for the recycling of PP from waste carpet. This is to be achieved by exploiting a novel solvent technology to selectively solubilise and recover the polypropylene so that it can be reused elsewhere. The ISOPREP technology potentially offers a number of key advantages, both from an economic and an environmental point of view. The method, which aims at cost-effectiveness in comparison to the production of virgin PP, will also reduce the reliance of polypropylene production on fossil sources, thereby reducing emissions and energy use.The key objectives of this project, as set out by the European Commission, are as follows:• To develop a more efficient and sustainable chemical process and processing technology, utilising plastic waste as starting material, for the production of added value products such as recyclable plastic materials (e.g. composites) and chemicals but excluding fuels.• To decrease the utilisation of primary fossil sources in the process industry of at least 30%.• To decrease in CO2 emissions of at least 20%.• To utilise at least 70% of waste material including at least 40% of plastic waste. Prace wykonane od początku projektu do końca okresu sprawozdawczego oraz najważniejsze dotychczasowe rezultaty The first period of the ISOPREP project finished at the end of March 2020, following 18 months of extensive laboratory-scale studies which have been successfully completed. The results obtained show the viability of the process and an initial LCA has shown its potential environmental benefits process. The consortium is now ready to begin the build of the pilot plant ready to then undertake pilot scale testing of the process. The key activities in the first period of the project included the large scale carpet sorting trial at a UK based carpet recycler. Analysis of the type of polymers in both the carpet pile and the carpet backing was undertaken on-site using a handheld device. Material from the sorting trial was then granulated and shredded by before more detailed chemical analysis. The ISOPREP process consists of a number of stages each of which have been examined in detail to ensure the overall approach is effective and efficient. This has allowed the design process to identify and the most appropriate technologies and methodologies to be incorporated during each stage. Experimental validation of these selections has been undertaken where possible as has the identification of the most suitable and cost effective materials, components, control systems and safety features to allow the establishment of the blueprint of final pilot plant design.Detailed work on the dissolution of the PP and its recovery has been undertaken to ensure the most effective and efficient processing parameters have been identified. This includes the determination of the nature of the large number of additives are present in PP and which need to be extracted during the recycling process. So far 28 different carpet samples and 9 backing materials have been reduced to their individual components and characterized in terms of their chemical structure using a range of analytical techniques including Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermal properties using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC).This analysis showed varying compositions for different waste carpet samples. In addition to PP, natural fibres such as wool, jute, cotton and synthetic fibres such as polyamide (PA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were identified in the waste carpet samples. PP content of the carpets varied between 0 % and 100%, indicating that care in sourcing the most appropriate feedstock will essential to the success of the approach.In addition to the technical work, the project has already been promoted in its early stages at a 13 different conferences, workshops and trade fairs. Eight different articles and press releases were published in variety of magazines and webpages among the consortium and externally reaching the audience over 14.000 people. Innowacyjność oraz oczekiwany potencjalny wpływ (w tym dotychczasowe znaczenie społeczno-gospodarcze i szersze implikacje społeczne projektu) A highly innovative and unique polypropylene recycling pilot plant that enables and facilitates the solvent based extraction of the polymer to be undertaken has been designed. The carpet market has been selected and a detailed determination of the chemical composition of a wide range of carpet pile and backing has been undertaken to allow the identification of the key chemical constituents. This chemical analysis has allowed detailed consideration of the design requirements for the plant to feed into the blueprint design. The trials undertaken have allowed the identification of the solvent necessary to effectively solubilise the polypropylene which can then be recovered for re-use. In addition data has been collected for each stage of the recycling process to allow a baseline Life Cycle to be undertaken. The results of the initial LCA indicate that the ISOPREP process has advantages regarding the usage of primary fossil resources compared to the primary PP-production. A preliminary Economic Assessment (EA) has been undertaken to identify the cost drivers and economic hot spots along the ISOPREP value chain. Like the LCA the EA-model is parametric to enable the evaluation of the economic system performance under various boundary conditions, whilst the provisional assessment shows considerable variance dependent on the assumptions, it does indicate that the ISOPREP process could produce PP that has lower embedded costs than conventional PP. slide1.jpg slide2.jpg
