CYCLOPS: reducing CO2 emissions with an innovative technology for recycling of oxygenated polymers

The widespread use of polymers in a variety of applications is accompanied by the exemption of large volumes of plastic waste (29.1 million tpa in 2018 in the EU), of which only 32.5% is recycled to date. To increase the circularity of plastics, it is envisaged that (1) by 2030 60% of the post-consumer volume of heteropolymers (MOT2 KPI#2) and (2) by 2040 75% of all plastics will be recycled.  

CYCLOPS aims to provide a unique and innovative solution to help reaching these targets by processing different types of oxygen-containing polymer materials, in particular PET, PC and epoxy resins, as well as blends such as PET/PE, PET/PC and PC/ABS. By recycling, greenhouse gas emissions related to feedstock production and waste incineration are avoided. Based on preliminary LCA calculations, the CYCLOPS process shows the potential to reduce the CO₂ emissions by ca. 1.9 Mt/year in Europe compared to incineration. 

The project targets three specific valorization objectives aiming for: 

1. the design of a scalable depolymerization process for oxygenated polymer materials recycling
2. the production of different di/polyols from the chemical recycling of oxygenated polymer materials
3. the synthesis of recyclable functional materials from depolymerized streams. 

The kick-off meeting of the project took place on March 17th, 2022 with the 4 consortium partners, each highly specialized and recognized in its field: 

• VITO, as a coordinator (Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek, BE), with 2 teams 

  • Sustainable POlymer Technologies (SPOT) which holds expertise in innovative depolymerization technologies as well as the formulation and recycling of recyclable materials. 

  • Membrane Separation and Value Chain Assessment (MESCH) which will offer sustainable methods for downstream processing and will provide the assessment of the techno-economic and environmental impact of the developed technology. 
    
     

• UGent, with two partners: 

  • Laboratory for Chemical Technology (LCT) will combine new catalyst synthesis and reactor design. 

  • Laboratory for Circular Process Engineering (LCPE) specialized in the characterization of waste streams and the purification of the depolymerization products. 

The MOT CYCLOPS project is a Strategic Basic Research for Clusters (cSBO) with a duration of 4 years. The project has an overall budget of € 2,527.282 KEUR received from the Moonshot Program, an industry-driven innovation program of the Flemish Government, coordinated by Catalisti, that supports companies in reducing their CO2 emissions. 

For more information, please contact karolien.vanbroekhoven@vito.be or elias.feghali@vito.be