The iCAREPLAST project aims to develop a cost- and energy-efficient alternative to recycling and landfilling plastics. Currently, only about 31% of disposed plastics are effectively recycled. The remaining fraction is either incinerated or landfilled due to its properties or contamination. The material resources contained in the plastics as well as the energy resources during landfilling are thus lost for society. In the iCAREPLAST project, an alternative process is to be developed in the field of chemical recycling. This process should enable generating high-quality raw materials from plastic waste using various technical processes.
Within this project, the IWF is working together with industrial and research institutions from EU member states such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK. Within the project, the IWF is responsible for the assessment and multi-criteria evaluation of the plastics value chain and the chemical recycling process with regard to the environmental footprint (LCA) and the costs (LCC). For this purpose, based on data from a pilot plant, a model-based tool is being developed that enables the analysis and evaluation of the life cycle, environmental impacts and costs in real time (live LCA) of secondary chemical raw materials from recycling into plastic-containing products.