HEИндивидуална стипендия2024–2026

R-PETFOAM · Valorization of undervalued recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) by supercritical CO2-assisted extrusion foaming CO2-assisted extrusion

„Хоризонт Европа“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2024-09-02 → 2026-03-01
Финансиране от ЕС: 135 865 €
Участници: 1
Схема: HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Цветните и непрозрачни пластмасови отпадъци от PET бутилки се превръщат в леки и здрави структурни пяни с помощта на въглероден диоксид. Това помага за намаляване на замърсяването и заменя токсичните материали в авиацията, автомобилостроенето и строителството с рециклирана алтернатива.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Valorization of undervalued recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) by supercritical CO2-assistedextrusion foaming CO2-assisted extrusion

Plastics have fundamentally improved modern living, yet their short life cycle and the sheer volume of resulting waste have triggered a global environmental crisis. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most widely used plastic for beverage packaging. While clear PET bottles are successfully mechanically recycled back into new bottles, the same cannot be said for mixed-color, or opaque PET streams. Because these colored plastics have high compositional variation and lower aesthetic appeal, they suffer from low industrial demand. Consequently, this "orphan" waste stream is frequently downcycled into fibers, sent to landfills, or incinerated, breaking the loop of the circular economy. The R-PETFOAM project was born to solve this exact problem. The overall objective was to upcycle these undervalued, mixed-color PET waste streams into high-performance, high-value structural foams. Polymeric foams are lightweight, rigid materials filled with tiny gas bubbles, widely used as the structural core in wind turbine blades, aerospace components, as well as construction and automotive panels. Because foams are inherently opaque, the variable color of the plastic waste become completely irrelevant. The project's pathway to impact relies on replacing toxic, highly polluting, or expensive virgin core materials (like PVC or virgin PET foams) with a 100% recycled alternative, processed using an eco-friendly blowing agent: supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2). By demonstrating that mixed-color waste can be transformed into a premium engineering material, R-PETFOAM aims to create a lucrative market pull. Valorizing just a fraction of Europe’s undervalued colored PET waste could generate millions in revenue while drastically reducing the carbon footprint of both the waste management and composite manufacturing sectors.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

During the last century, the unique properties of plastics have enabled human civilization to continuously improve its living conditions. An example is the polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) that has become the primary packaging material of beverage containers. However, the short life cycle of these materials created a significant environmental problem, as they tend to end up in landfills or occasionally in the environment.In this project, the mechanical reprocessing method of colored PET is going to be combined with extrusion foaming assisted by supercritical carbon-dioxide (sc-CO2) that presents high advantages as a high dissolution in polymers (enables foamed products with very low density) and a green process since CO2 is an environmentally friendly physical foaming agent.The project is fully in line with the interests of the Researcher, Dr. Daniel Vadas. He has been studying the CO2-aided extrusion foaming technology for 7 years, firstly he successfully produced and characterised flame-retarded poly (lactic acid) (PLA) foams in 2015 and managed to secure 1st place on the Conference of Student Research Societies at both University and National level.The project proposed herein will enable him to acquire and reinforce unique research-related experiences and transferable skills in mechanical recycling of lower value post-consumer PET waste as well as in Management and entrepreneurship. The intersectoral industrial relationships of the host organization whom the candidate will closely and intensively collaborate with, would significantly improve his leadership competences.The project results will improve the recyclability of almost non-recyclable colored PET, thereby reducing the volume of plastic materials sent to landfill or incineration.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

FUNDACION CIDAUT · ValladolidКоординаторИспания