Tackling waste: European innovation is reshaping the future of the plastic circular economy

euronews (in English)

Tackling waste: European innovation is reshaping the future of the plastic circular economy  Can sustainable solutions and state-of-the-art innovative technologies reshape plastic recycling and its circular economy both in Europe and across the World? We travelled to Austria to find out.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/12/05/tackling-waste-european-innovation-is-reshaping-the-future-of-the-plastic-circular-economy  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00innovation is absolutely the key for success and to make a difference i always like the analogy

00:07of cooking because of course we are picking ingredients which mix together it's light it's

00:14durable and it also smells very nice plastic waste is one of the global challenges that we need to

00:20tackle soluciones sostenibles y tecnología punta están rediseñando el reciclaje y la economía

00:26circular del plástico y han sido fabricadas en europa

00:36en el corazón del parque químico de linds en austria se encuentra lo que sus conceptores

00:42describen como un templo de la innovación en plástico reciclado 350 personas trabajan aquí

00:49para diseñar y producir los materiales plásticos reciclados del futuro decenas de materias primas

00:56diferentes con nombres peculiares como polímeros son mezcladas con aditivos antioxidantes o fibras

01:03de vidrio para probar la fabricación de una amplia gama de productos de uso diario

01:11the different products which we design could be a pipe it could also be a bumper it could

01:18also be only if you have a candy and a candy has to be wrapped around with some packaging material

01:24desde productos aislantes a películas transparentes totalmente reciclables esta fabricación a escala

01:31real permite mostrar a clientes potenciales como dar una segunda vida a materiales plásticos en

01:37condiciones similares a las de una fábrica

01:39we also have very small machines and we see it's quite difficult to really transfer all the film properties

01:45really to the production sites because the shrinkage is different also the pressure and the orientation of the film

01:52is quite different to really small scale line and that's the reason why we also have these semi-commercial lines

01:59to really have a real life production

02:01Incluso los controles de calidad son similares a los industriales

02:05The customer wants to have the best material and we as Borealis we also want to deliver the best quality

02:12and that's why we look at these materials here and see that as few steps as possible are in it

02:19and if there are too many steps in the material there are in it then it will not be delivered

02:24La mayor parte del equipo tecnológico aquí se centra en encontrar soluciones de reciclaje

02:29Un aspecto clave es el diseño y la fabricación de productos con un solo material plástico

02:35You can compare it with for example a cake a chocolate cake which has a lot of layers which has a lot of mixture

02:43It's very difficult to recycle if we have one chocolate bar one material very simple to recycle

02:48So the whole concept what we now have to do is to try to go for recyclability

02:56because then the recycling efficiency will go up and also the reuse will be able to go up

03:02and the cycle will get smaller and smaller

03:05El centro ya expone productos finales comercialmente prometedores

03:09This is a door trim where 30% of the material is recycled material from household waste

03:18It fulfilling all stringent requirements of the automotive application

03:22And if you can see it's light, it's durable and it also smells very nice

03:27Another example where we really put some effort in this is on making monomaterial of patches

03:41Most of patches are multi-material therefore very difficult to recycle

03:46We have made it with monomaterial which is easy recyclable

03:51Estas instalaciones son la sede central de innovación de uno de los principales grupos químicos europeos

03:58Emplea 6.200 personas y presta servicio en 120 países

04:03La empresa desarrolla productos químicos básicos y afirma ser el segundo mayor productor europeo de poliolecinas

04:15Una versátil familia de materias primas plásticas

04:18También se describe como pionera europea en la transición del sector del plástico de lineal a circular

04:24La mayoría de sus nuevos productos priorizan ecoeficiencia, reutilización y reciclaje

04:31Afirma su director general

04:33We have been investing in the space much earlier than many others

04:37And we are one of the very few companies that makes the virgin material

04:41That uses waste materials and makes out of this products

04:46That are truly for high performance application

04:49So it's not a bucket or a pallet

04:52We actually are upcycling and not only recycling

04:56La empresa ha presentado más de 12.000 patentes

04:59Entre ellas la tecnología Borecycle

05:01Que permite un reciclaje tanto mecánico como químico

05:05Garantizando una segunda vida al plástico en forma de productos innovadores

05:09Look at these two cups

05:12Lightweight, reusable and made from chemically recycled polymers

05:19Here are everyday products made from mechanically recycled plastic

05:26We are able still to return the article to the same aesthetic good looking view as an original plastic product

05:36Here is an advanced battery pack that is made with single mono material plastic

05:45Which makes it even better for design for recycling

05:48But also aesthetically appealing and functional to the end user

05:53La empresa reconoce que la forma más fácil y eficiente de evitar los residuos plásticos

06:00Es de tener su vertido al medio ambiente

06:03Por eso en 2017 inició el proyecto STOP

06:06Con el objetivo de abordar el problema de los residuos plásticos en Indonesia

06:10Why did we choose Indonesia?

06:13Because 60% of the waste is not collected

06:16Meaning it ends up in open burning, illegal dump sites, is polluting rivers and is ending into the ocean

06:25The objective is really to keep the waste out of the environment and do benefits for society

06:30We have developed and applied the system in three partner cities

06:35We have actually connected more than 600,000 people to waste management

06:40And we created 260 jobs locally

06:48We provide the assorted waste to a local recycler

06:52Who makes out of the waste polypropylene out of it

06:56And these are the plastic pellets

06:58And we provide them to our partner Wild Plastics

07:02Who actually is out of these pellets

07:04But using these nicely designed high quality flower pots

07:08Con la innovación como un activo innegociable

07:11¿Cuál es la mentalidad adecuada para una empresa exitosa en el ultracompetitivo sector químico?

07:16My personal philosophy is important that we try and allow failures to happen

07:22Give your best

07:23Except that sometimes we don't make it

07:26Stand up, learn again and continue

07:29If you're not giving our employees the sense of it's okay sometimes to fail

07:35They're not pushing the boundaries

07:36And for the European industry, we need to push boundaries

07:40Otherwise, the others push the boundaries and we will be left behind

07:44Yes, all right.

07:48Can you show them?

07:54Thank you

07:56You

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