At the beginning of 2021, the eponymous Poseidon Plastics (Redcar / UK; www.poseidonplastics.com) started its “Poseidon” project for the chemical recycling of difficult-to-recycle PET waste. The British company wants to use its proprietary glycolysis technology to recycle scrap PET that has so far been considered unrecyclable or very difficult to recycle.

In a prototype plant in north-eastern England, Poseidon Plastics will use the technology to break down PET waste and remove colours and additives. The end product of the process, bishydroxyethyl terephthalate (BHET), can be reused as feedstock material for the production of plastic bottles, fibres and film applications.

The recycling plant of project partner Biffa (High Wycombe / UK; www.biffa.co.uk), which went operational in 2020 in Seaham (see Plasteurope.com of 05.02.2020), will play a crucial role in the project. There, Biffa will separate the hard-to-recycle PET plastics and supply them as production scrap for the project.

PET film manufacturer DuPont Teijin Films (Redcar / UK; www.dupontteijinfilms.com), Mexican PET producer Alpek (San Pedro Garza García; www.alpek.com) and the Irish sporting goods manufacturer O'Neills (Dublin; www.oneills.com) are also involved in the project.