Futerro is well aware that plastics, whether petroleum-based or bio-based, are valuable materials for which a host of end-of-life options should be developed. Re-use and recycling routes, are in place for current oil-based polymers such as PET, PE, PVC, and PP, with energy recovery through combustion mostly serving as a main solution and mechanical recycling as an alternative solution. These are not the most effective solutions because polymers are usually mixed with other compounds making them hard to recycle. So, at Futerro, we decided to develop the first -chemical recycling process for RENEW™.
Currently, LOOPLA® in the only chemical recycling technology available on an industrial scale in Belgium. The main positive points are:
- 100% Recyclable & Renewable : Futerro can remake virgin RENEW™. This means that RENEW™ is the first bio-RENEW-ableTM polymer.
- It can manage RENEW™ based products even with pollutants such as additives, coloring agents, and organic waste.
- It can create a full and virtuous circular economy principle in biopolymer markets.
- It complies with the worldwide new government regulations and directives
“Futerro is the only bioplastic manufacturer that can provide you with products and a way to manage them when they become waste”
Other recycling methods do exist but they are not as efficient as LOOPLA® :
INDUSTRIAL COMPOSTING :
From RENEW™ to plants.
Industrial composting is an established process for transforming biodegradable waste of biological origin into stable, sanitized products to be used in agriculture.
ENERGY RECOVERY :
From RENEW™ to energy.
Energy recovery from waste is the conversion of waste materials into usable heat, electricity, or fuel through a variety of processes such as combustion, gasification and pyrolization of landfill gas recovery.
MECHANICAL RECYCLING :
From RENEW™ to recycled RENEW™.
Mechanical recycling is the process of collecting plastic wastes, washing, melting, and having the waste transformed into raw material for a new productive process of plastic transformation. Unfortunately, this process impacts the polymer’s qualities leading to non-valuable final waste and affecting its applications.