Project description
A big recycling step for WEEE plastic components
The plastic components of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) can contain significant amounts of hazardous substances such as lead, mercury or certain flame retardants. This means the plastics from some types of WEEE need to be treated as hazardous waste. The EU-funded NONTOX project will target two waste streams: end of life vehicles (ELV) and construction and demolition waste (CDW). It will develop technologies to remove hazardous substances from these two waste streams. The project will investigate the thermochemical conversion of non-target plastics and side streams to increase system efficiency by increasing the range of final products and applications.
Objective
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.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- H2020-EU.3.5. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials Main Programme
- H2020-EU.3.5.4. - Enabling the transition towards a green economy and society through eco-innovation
- H2020-EU.3.5.3.2. - Promote the sustainable supply and use of raw materials, including mineral resources, from land and sea, covering exploration, extraction, processing, re-use, recycling and recovery
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
02150 Espoo
Finland