Spanish plastics technology centre Aimplas (Valencia; www.aimplas.net) is helping develop advanced chemical and mechanical reclaim solutions to stop difficult-to-recycle plastics and other waste such as end-of-life tyres, old mattresses, and wires from being sent to landfills.

Estimates by the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association suggest Europe generates up to 4 mn t/y of end-of-life tyres.

The Neorec Project, which is funded by Spain’s Valencian Innovation Agency (www.innoavi.es) and the European Regional Development Fund (Brussels; www.ec.europa.eu), is studying anaerobic degradation and other chemical processes.

Eva Verdejo, an Aimplas researcher and group leader for chemical recycling, said the aim was to isolate and select microorganisms that anaerobically biodegrade biopolymers faster than conventional organisms, helping to establish a more efficient recycling process.

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Work is also focussing on partial chain-breaking processes to obtain plastics with the same initial specifications.