Re-inventing the circle

The Circular economy debate grows daily and it appears that everyone has their own take on what is important and where the future lies. SPN takes a broad look at what is trending and how we can all benefit from the vast range of research and analysis that is contributing to achieving a truly circular global economy. Philip Yorke reports.

Among the companies working diligently to transform today’s plastic recycling systems is Greenback Recycling Technologies, where today the buzzword is ‘System Thinking’. This refers to a situation when a holistic approach is implemented to deal with the plastic waste crisis. It moves away from individual point technology that might solve the plastic recycling problem in isolation, to one that focuses on working in synergy with different technologies. The goal is the same: transforming the plastic recycling system. Holistic solutions are a proven way that will integrate technologies within local waste systems that are already in place thereby providing complete system thinking rather than silo’d ineffective solutions.

“ Holistic solutions are a proven way that will integrate technologies within local waste systems that are already in place ”

New circularity platform

One of the latest models embracing this concept is the Greenback Circularity Platform, which has been developed by Greenback Recycling Technologies. The company’s Circularity Platform improves on current audit-based methods to certify proof of material provenance and value. It manages this by using a combination of artificial intelligence and IoT gathered evidence, all backed up on Blockchain to provide additional security. This evidence includes camera images, weigh scale data, smart contracts, and advanced analysis of waste types, including AI recognition.

One of the solutions Greenback is implementing today in supporting the recycling of post-consumer plastic waste involves waste pickers sifting through plastic items and then moving these items onto the recycling technology installed literally at the landfill site. One of the novel recycling technologies used by Greenback is microwave induced-pyrolysis. This technology was developed via Enval’s proprietary pyrolysis solution for low-density packaging waste. Pyrolysis recycling technology works by enabling a thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen. It is viewed as one of the solutions for hard-to-recycle flexible plastics headed to landfill, as it allows the treatment of mixed, unwashed plastic waste.

The system has fantastic potential for recycling heterogeneous plastic waste that cannot be economically physically separated and classed. When installed at landfill sites, the technology gives the CPG companies total assurance that the pyrolysis oil has come from post-consumer plastic waste. It also enables waste pickers to be reimbursed at source for separating plastic waste materials into the different waste streams.

These pyrolysis plants are scalable and quick to commission, which are key factors to consider in the face of growing recycling quotas and as governments around the world implement more environmental regulations to address plastic waste. A single module can process 2.5kt per annum of hard-to-recycle plastic waste and can neatly scale in 2.5kt increments to meet the need of the available local waste stream.

By placing distributed recycling plants close to waste sources, it can also assist local economies extract maximum value from their waste. A combination of local collection, sorting and recycling helps to reduce plastic pollution, water usage, resource depletion and CO2 emissions into the bargain.

For more information on Greenback Recycling Technologies, please visit www.greenback.earth