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Global Updates: Latest News in the World of Plastic Recycling

The Recycling Round-Up

As part of our mission to keep you informed and inspired, we bring you the latest developments from the fascinating world of plastic recycling. This month, we have some incredible breakthroughs to share that are shaping the future of our industry.

Making Polymers for Lithium-ion Batteries from Waste Plastic Bottles

A team of Singapore scientists has developed a way to make polymer electrolytes, which are key components for safer lithium-ion batteries, from waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles. The research team obtained PE from PET bottles by taking advantage of the susceptibility of PET’s ester linkages for chemical solvolysis and the structural rigidity of the terephthalate aromatic components.

New funding for novel plastics recycling technology announced

A research consortium comprising technologists from the University of Birmingham and engineering firm Stopford has been awarded a further £300k of funding from Innovate UK to develop a novel plastic recycling technology. The technology, as shared on Circular, is a chemical recycling process that utilises hot compressed water as green solvent. This is to selectively depolymerise waste plastics into commodity compounds that can be processed to produce virgin materials.

AMP Robotics unveils new AI-enabled automated sortation solution

AI and robotics have been making significant contributions to the recycling industry in various ways. These technologies are helping to make recycling processes more efficient, accurate, and sustainable. Examples of where this is being applied include sorting, imaging, and quality control. Recent news from AMP Robotics introduces it’s latest AI breakthrough applying advanced algorithms to increase robotic recovery performance and reliability. The new compact version of the company’s robotics system adapts to space constraints and fills gaps in material recovery for retrofit of recycling facilities.

Recycling News Round-Up

At Plastic Expert, we’re thrilled by these global strides in tackling plastic waste, and we hope you are too. If you would like monthly updates from our team then you can stay tuned to our newsletter for more news and insights. Simply fill in the form below and subscribe today.