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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

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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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