How do you recycle complex plastics?

Recycling plastic and composite materials remains a challenge for most manufacturers. Each plastic object belongs to or assembles several different polymer families, making the separation and purification of each element all the more complex. The difficulty is even greater when they are combined with glass or carbon fibers, as in the case of composite materials.

However, this separation and purification is necessary to achieve the recycling rate targets set by the European Union for 2030. By this date, 55% of plastics and 70% of plastic packaging, for example, will have to be recycled.

Another challenge is that these "virgin" materials will have to be reintroduced into the circuit before they can be used again. Before this can happen, manufacturers need to isolate additives, colorants and pollutants from polymers. This is a major technological challenge, which is even more complex for those involved in food packaging, for example, who are subject to strict health regulations.

In the face of these challenges, new technologies are emerging as alternatives or complements to "mechanical" recycling technology: chemical recycling, biochemical recycling, solvolysis, gasification, pyrolysis, etc. They will be essential if we are to achieve the recycling targets set at European level.

The European Union has just opened the door to more experimentation with these technologies, and their industrial maturity could well accelerate in the years to come. In these new markets, France has the advantage of a large and diversified network of laboratories that have made polymer knowledge their own. At this event, POC Media invites you to discover a series of innovations developed by academic researchers, which have given rise to breakthrough solutions.

Program:

• 9h-9h15 : Welcome from POC Media and Polymeris
• 9h15-9h45 : Researchers' pitch
  • Sophie DUQUESNE, Université de Lille
  • Alain GUINAULT, CNAM
  • Sandrine HOPPE, Université de Lorraine
  • Eric POLLET, Université de Strasbourg
• 9h45-10h15 : The Crymirotech success story: how to efficiently produce monomers for industry
  • Maxime LEPINAY, CEO de Crymirotech
• 10h15-11h : "Plastic recycling: the regulatory challenge" round-table discussion
  • Jean-François GERARD, CNRS, directeur du PEPR Recyclabilité
  • Mathieu BRANDIBAT, directeur de la Stratégie nationale d'accélération sur le recyclage
  • Linnet SOLWAY, ingénieur génie de l'environnement, économie circulaire, Ademe
  • Gael BOUQUET, directrice général d'Elipso
  • Intervenant à confirmer, Solvay

Free event, registration required