Page 150 - CW E-Magazine (31-12-2024)

News from Abroad

AI-DRIVEN PROCESS
BASF and research partners collaborate to optimise

mechanical recycling of plastics

BASF has teamed up with Swiss lab sent for recycling is mechanically re-
instrumentation fi rm, Endress+Hauser, cycled. The waste is collected, sorted,
and German plastics fi rm, Techno- crushed, cleaned and then melted.
Compound, as well as the Universities Depending on the input material and
of Bayreuth and Jena to study how the the degree of sorting, this melted mate-
mechanical recycling of plastics can rial can contain different types of plas-
be improved. With funding from the tics, additives and contaminants. There-
German Federal Ministry of Education fore, the quality of the recycled output
and Research (BMBF), the ‘SpecReK’ often varies and is not always suffi cient
project aims to reliably and precisely to be transformed back into high-value
identify the composition of plastic plastic products.
waste during the recycling process and should be adapted to improve the quality
thus improve the quality of recycled of the recycled plastic output. “With the increasing demand for
plastics. This will be achieved by com- high-quality recycled materials, and
bining state-of-the-art measuring tech- “We do not currently have the neces- given the current legal framework, it
niques with artifi cial intelligence (AI). sary analysis tools to determine during will be crucial to perfectly understand
processing exactly which components the material properties and composition
The researchers are using spectro- are contained in the mechanically recy- of mechanically recycled plastic waste
scopic methods which interpret how cled plastics,” explained Dr. Bernhard and to optimise the process. In this way,
the material interacts with light to von Vacano, head of the Plastics Circu- we will strengthen the circular economy,”
gain information about the chemical larity research programme at BASF. Mr. von Vacano said.
structure of the recycled plastics. The This information is needed, however,
project partners want to use this data to evaluate and improve the quality of In this joint project, BASF is coope-
to determine in real time during pro- waste plastics. “This will enable us to rating with Endress+Hauser, Techno-
cessing which plastic grades, additives use more mechanically recycled plas- Compound, the University of Bayreuth
and contaminants are contained in the tics to produce high-quality products and Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
material. In a subsequent step, an AI and to make recycling processes more The total project volume is €2.2-mn,
algorithm will recognise patterns in effi cient and sustainable,” he added. with two-thirds fi nanced by BMBF
the measurement data and recommend funds from its quantum systems research
which additional components should Circular economy for plastics program and one-third fi nanced by the
be added or how the recycling process At present, most of the plastic waste project partners.
FOSSIL FUEL ALTERNATIVE
Power2X selects Honeywell’s technology

for electrofuels project in Rotterdam

Dutch green energy fi rm, Power2X, The Rotterdam facility will use eFuels combine green hydrogen
has licensed Honeywell UOP’s eFining locally produced green hydrogen and (i.e., hydrogen produced from renew-
methanol-to-jet processing technology imported methanol produced from able energy and water) and carbon di-
in its eFuels Rotterdam project – a green hydrogen and biogenic carbon as oxide to create eMethanol, which can then
large-scale production and storage hub feedstock to create electrofuels (eFuels). be converted into sustainable fuels like
for sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) These eFuels are a class of synthetic eSAF or other synthetic drop-in fuels.
and synthetic, ultra-low carbon fuels in fuels that can help displace a portion of
the Port of Rotterdam. fossil fuels. “Accelerating the energy transition

150 Chemical Weekly December 31, 2024

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