With the aim of improve the plastic recycling ratethe agents of the Navarrese R&D&I System, SINAI: National Center for Renewable Energies (CENER) and the Public University of Navarra (UPNA), are developing the Piropax Projectwho seeks to stop the plastic pollution and accelerate the transition to a circular and resource-efficient economy.
The project is coordinated by ADItechcoordinator of SINAIand financed by the Government of Navarra, through the call for assistance for the realization of R&D projects among the R&D&i executing agents of SINAI.
At present, only 57% of plastic produced is collected; and of this total, only about 17% is recycled into new products. The main form of recycling is done through mechanical techniques, which require prior separation tasks between different types of materials.
This highlights the need to research new alternatives that facilitate this process. It is for this reason that the teams led by Ana María Hernández Giménez from CENER and Sophia Korili from UPNA are implementing a chemical recycling system for mixtures of plastic waste based on pyrolysis technology.
This method will allow everyone material collected in the yellow container raw material in the recycling process.
With this solution, not only the proportion of recovered waste will increasebut it will also be possible to obtain new plastics and other chemical compounds such as resins and solvents, among others.
