PROFIT

Introduction

The PROFIT project aims to create a new sustainable value chain for plastics from complex residual streams such as municipal waste by reverse engineering the chain and organising separation fit-for-use, starting from an end application. PROFIT aims to achieve a competitive business case with the various actors in the value chain in a reasonable period of time by framing more fundamental research on separation technology such as selective flotation and centrifugation in a system of integrated water and materials management.

Concrete goals and criteria

1. Gain fundamental understanding of plastic recycling from complex waste streams with a focus on generic knowledge building around:

• Reverse engineering of value chains starting from quantitative properties of the final product linked to physicochemical properties of the waste mixture to organise separation fit-for-use.
• More fundamental technological analysis of separation technology for plastics from complex waste streams via selective flotation and centrifugation and other techniques, according to the needs of companies.

Intended result: scientific publications, presentations at international conferences, generic knowledge building among research and other partners.

2. Design and research of new value chains for 2 case studies in which two specific waste streams, originating from household waste and food waste, can be upgraded to end applications (estimated at around 10000 tonnes of end product on an annual basis). This through a systematic and iterative process of Design-Discovery-Implementation-Monitoring along the entire value chain.

Intended result: 2 elaborated technically and economically feasible value chains, demonstration of finished product.

3. Marketing the two economically and ecologically interesting value chains by working out business cases in collaboration with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and focus on integral management of raw materials such as water & chemicals during the design of the chain.

Intended result: 3 business plans from companies across the value chain, positive economic balance, LCA result improved by a factor of 2, use of auxiliary materials halved.

4. Create a best practice precedent for recycling plastics from complex waste streams such as municipal waste.

Intended result: identification of at least 2 similar waste streams, ientification of societal drivers and bottlenecks, active dissemination.