In the old Linear Economic Model, articles are used and dumped at landfill as zero value resource. This creates pollution, strain on natural resources which is already limited.
The Circular Economic Model (Circularity) on the contrary is the concept where used products are not considered as waste but as valuable resources. The used materials are collected, sorted into fractions, then treated and converted back into useful materials. A typical example is mechanical and chemical recycling.
Chemical recycling otherwise known as Advanced Recycling is complimentary to the Mechanical recycling and is seen today as the best approach to handling the mechanically unrecyclable streams as opposed to incineration and landfill. It has been existing for many years now but has failed to penetrate mainstream markets in developed countries due to the immaturity of the technology.
Chemical recycling is a thermolysis process which entails the depolymerization of plastics into Oil or Gas (Pyro Oil) at high temperatures with or without catalyst. The products from this are used as feedstock for the chemical industry for the production or polymers, fuel and other derivatives.
There are 2 main processes deployed in the industry today, namely Pyrolysis and Gasification. The major differences being the temperature and the output product. Pyrolysis typically operate at the temperature range of 350-650°C and produces mainly Oil/Wax while Gasification operates at much higher temperatures 900-1200°C to produce gases.
In EU, plastic waste incineration and landfill volumes are higher than recycled material, this means high growth opportunity for Chemical recycling. Chemical recycling also offers the possibility to have products that can be used in food contact applications like packaging.