Sustainable Plastics - March/April 2022 - 26

digitalisation
The digital system, develcontinued
from page 25
oped in collaboration with
Greenback, will be situated at
every one of the Greenback
recycling plants, located adjacent
to landfill sites, so that it
will be able to secure a cryptographic
record of all the plastic
collected.
Each batch of plastic is digitally
tracked via blockchain.
At the same time, the system
develops a smart contract that
keeps track of each batch, so
the end-user knows precisely
where the recyclate has emanated
from.
By recirculating flexible plastic
packaging waste into the industrial
cycle and elevating this
discarded material into a valuable
commodity, Greenback is
also helping to reduce CO2 and
fossil oil depletion.
Pyrolysis plants
UK-based chemical recycling
company Enval is also partnering
with Greenback to provide
microwave-induced pyrolysis
technology to create sustainable
and economical alternatives to
flexible plastic waste landfills.
Enval's concept works in
the following way: it processes
mixed flexible packaging into
Py-oil as a sustainable feedstock
for new food-grade plastic
products, directly substituting
naphtha as a fossil fuel. The
process is clean, efficient and
economical for post-consumer
and industrial waste.
The plastic component of the
waste degrades to form a mixture
of hydrocarbons, and this mixture
is then cooled down and separated
into gas and oil. Notably,
the gas can be used to generate
the electricity required to power
the process, thereby creating a
closed-loop solution, while the
new condensed oils are sold as
a feedstock for CPG companies.
Enval's microwave pyrolysis
plant processes organic material,
such as paper or plastic,
which is heated and broken
down without oxygen. Microwaves
provide heat energy, and
the process can be configured
to operate under mild mechanical
conditions to extract fragile
materials without damaging
them. The technology is powered
by electricity, eliminating
26
March/April 2022
the need for a chimney stack.
This in turn enables renewable
energy sources to create a highly
sustainable recycling process.
How does it work?
In the Enval recycling process,
shredded plastic aluminium
laminates are mixed with carbon.
When the carbon is exposed
to the microwaves, it
reaches up to 600°C in just a
few minutes. This heat energy
is then quickly and efficiently
transferred to the plastic waste
via conduction. Another advantage
of this system is that fragile
aluminium foil within the flexible
and hard-to-recycle plastic
remains undamaged during the
process and can be recovered
in solid form, clean and ready
for reprocessing as a single aluminium
stream with high intrinsic
value.
Recycling aluminium through
the Enval process leads to up
to 75% energy savings. With
a purity exceeding 98% and a
minimum metal yield of 80%, it
can be directly reintroduced to
the metal re-smelting process.
A typical Enval plant produces
200 to 400 tonnes of aluminium
a year, depending on the feedstock
supplied.
A world first
The pyrolysis plants are scalable
and quick to commission
due to their small scale. A single
module can process 2.5kt per
annum of hard-to-recycle plastic
waste and can neatly scale
in 2.5 KTA increments to fit the
size of the local waste stream
available. The operational model
can be established in developing
or developed regions
and measured according to
UN Sustainable Development
Goals and in line with Environmental,
Social & Governance
(ESG) impacts.
As such, Greenback's first
significant project adopting
this philosophy will be based
in Mexico. Working with Nestlѐ,
the company will establish an
advanced chemical recycling
plant at a landfill site in the
country which will provide a
framework for further projects
worldwide.
Focusing on the digital aspect
in collaboration with the
physical process of recycling
hard-to-recycle plastics has the
potential to unlock high-performance
materials that are
currently lost to landfills. In the
future, this will enable the recycling
of valuable resources and
pave the way for responsible
packaging solutions, changing
the perception of plastic and
driving a circular economy.
Consumers want to know
more about the packaging, and
they are looking for brands that
are sustainable and have an environmental
responsibility extending
beyond how a product
is made. CPGs can now demonstrate
sustainability to consumers
and address the issue of
plastic waste effectively through
securing legitimate sources of
clean, recycled plastics.
Through the use of this innovative
technology, Greenback
is solving a complex global
problem by creating an ethical,
predictable, and liquid market
for certified post-consumer recycled
plastic that's safe for use
in new food-grade packaging.
Philippe von Stauffenberg
is the founder and CEO of
Greenback Recycling Technologies,
a UK-headquartered
company of over 40 people on
a mission to solve the global
plastic waste crisis. Greenback
is implementing a scalable
and distributed advanced
collection and recycling solution,
that offers brand owners
and the plastics value chain
fully traceable recyclate. The
company is building a decentralised
network of collection
and recycling plants near
the sources of post-consumer
plastic waste around the
world. The company's certification
technology uses blockchain-based
evidence to trace
and authenticate the provenance
and composition of
materials. This enables waste
plastic to be used as a feedstock
for food-grade commercial
packaging applications at
predictable prices and in dependable
quantities.
Sustainable Plastics - March/April 2022

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