Recycling Technologies, Nitech, Bath University and Optimal Industrial Automation collaborate to enhance and improve the efficiency of chemical recycling

SWINDON, 22 DECEMBER 2020. Recycling Technologies, a specialist plastic recycling technology provider announces it has completed the first phase of a project funded by the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) to enhance the efficiency of its chemical recycling process by hydrogenating Plaxx® and the incorporation of digitalisation to improve the automation, measurement and industrial controls on the RT7000.  The RT7000 is a machine manufactured by Recycling Technologies which converts waste plastics into Plaxx®, a recycled feedstock which can be used to manufacture new plastic.

The SBRI project allowed Recycling Technologies to collaborate with NiTech, a leading authority and expert on continuous processing, The Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies (CSCT) at the University of Bath and Optimal Industrial Automation, a leading specialist in the automation of manufacturing systems to optimise production processes. 

The project examined the feasibility of incorporating NiTech’s Oscillating Baffle Reactor (OBR) into the existing elements within Recycling Technologies pyrolysis machine to enhance the quality of Plaxx ® to steam-cracker ready feedstock, thus avoiding the need for pre-treatment in advance to the manufacture of new plastic.  

The inclusion of Optimal Industrial Automation in the project has tested the feasibility of incorporating analytical technologies that enhance process efficiency and enable chemical recycling to move towards digital control of distributed units that can be deployed and utilised flexibly across the world.

Marvine Besong, Technical Director at Recycling Technologies said,

“Recycling Technologies is delighted to have received this grant from the Small Business Research Initiative to work with CSCT, NiTech and Optimal Industrial Automation.   This project is a critical element of our desire to accelerate the evolution of plastic into a more sustainable material through innovation and technical excellence.”

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About Recycling Technologies

UK-based company, Recycling Technologies, is on a mission to accelerate the evolution of plastic into a more sustainable material. Currently, 88% of the plastic used in the world is either buried, burned or leaked into the environment¹. This means that the world recycles only 12% of the 359 million tons of plastic produced each year². Recycling Technologies has developed an innovative technology, the RT7000, which turns hard-to-recycle plastic such as films, bags, laminated plastics into an oil, called Plaxx®, used as a feedstock for new plastic production. The RT7000 is modular and small-scale, designed to fit easily onto existing waste treatment and recycling sites, providing a scalable solution to recycle waste plastic anywhere in the world. For further information, please visit recyclingtechnologies.co.uk.

¹ McKinsey&Co – How plastics-waste recycling could transform the chemical industry

²Plastics Europe – Plastics the facts 2019