THE University of Birmingham has licensed rights to a ‘supercritical’ water technology to sustainable engineering firm, Stropford, which will see the development of a process for recycling mixed plastic packaging.
Stropford said the process delivers a greater proportion of high value recycled plastic with less emissions and fewer processing steps than current recycling methods, and with no solvent residues.
The approach was invented by Dr Bushra Al-Duri, from the university’s school of chemical engineering, and was further developed during a collaborative project with Stropford.
Water is described as ‘supercritical’ when reaching above the critical point of 374.5°C and 220 bars. This leads to its properties and operational behaviour being ‘completely different’ from ambient/hot water. Supercritical water can be a solvent for all organic materials including plastics. Its gas-like penetration power is said to make it a superior medium to decompose mixtures of complex waste plastics into value-added materials, which are feedstock for manufacturing new plastics.
Stopford added that it will now use its technology innovation and engineering expertise to further develop and scale the novel hydro-thermal process called CircuPlast, enabling the conversion of non-recyclable end of life plastics into high-value chemicals for use as feedstock for the plastics industry.
Stopford’s technology and innovation director, Dr Ben Herbert, said, “This agreement enables Stopford to fast-track the development of the CircuPlast technology to meet the plastics management and sustainability requirements of multiple industry sectors.”
David Coleman, CEO of the University Birmingham enterprise, added, “The growth of plastics production has long outstripped the capacity for recycling, with the UK alone producing over two million tonnes of plastic packaging waste each year, of which just over half is recycled. We are delighted the university is working with Stopford to deliver a viable way of recycling much more plastic packaging that will help meet sustainability goals.”
Dr Al-Duri added, “Supercritical water technology represents the next generation for treatment and recycling of ‘stubborn’, complex, and hazardous waste that is currently treated by incineration or sent to landfill. I am looking forward to working with Stopford on the scientific and operational challenges involved in bringing this technology to market.”
