RecyQMeter: Application-specific quality of recycled plastics

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Quantifying recyclate quality and identifying applications for recycled plastics presents a significant challenge.
• Industry demands robust methods to assess recycled plastic quality to meet ambitious recycled content targets.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the RecyQMeter tool, designed to objectively assess the quality of recycled plastics.
• To assist recyclers in effectively marketing their secondary materials by understanding their quality relative to virgin plastics.

Main Methods:

• Development of RecyQMeter, incorporating an extensive application-property matrix.
• Utilizing a large dataset derived from data mining, expert interviews, literature searches, and modeling.
• Generating a quality score (0-1) for recyclates compared to virgin plastics across various applications.

Main Results:

• RecyQMeter provides a standardized quality metric for recycled plastics.
• The tool facilitates the estimation of substitution ratios in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies.
• It enables better market positioning for secondary plastic materials.

Conclusions:

• RecyQMeter represents a significant advancement in standardizing plastics recycling.
• The tool supports decision-making for enhanced circularity in the plastics sector.
• Its comprehensive approach, large database, and transparent calculations offer ease of use for industry stakeholders.