Afbeelding
There are two main methods for recycling polymers. Mechanical recycling and chemical recycling. In mechanical recycling, polymers are pulverised and melted into (re)granules. In chemical recycling, polymers are depolymerised into building blocks (monomers) and, after purification, repolymerised into new polymers.
Reason
However, there is a major drawback with all current methods, that a sacrifice has to be made in the quality of the recycled material (in mechanical recycling) or harmful substances are used to facilitate the recycling process (in chemical recycling).
What problem does the project solve?
One way to recycle polymers without these drawbacks is by enzymatic depolymerisation. This method combines the advantages of chemical recycling (no reduction in quality) with those of mechanical recycling (no harmful chemicals needed), and it can be specific to individual polymers. This means that one polymer can be selectively recycled from a mixture of different plastics.
Who is the project team?
NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences
RUG
CuRe Technology
How does the project team tackle it?
The project consists of four phases:
- Patent and lite art research on enzymatic depolymerisation of polyesters, polyamides and polyurethanes.
- Enzymatic depolymerisation of polymers under mild conditions.
- Purification of depolymerised monomers and oligomers.
- Repolymerisation of pure building blocks into high-quality polymers.
