GAW is one of 5 finalists for the Alliance Prize in Circular Solutions for Flexibles
GAW technologies is thrilled to be nominated as one of the top-5 finalists in the Alliance Prize in Circular Solutions for Flexibles.
We are proud that our CreaSolv® Process (Simplify Your Waste – An Ingenious Solution for A Multilayered Problem) was identified out of 600 registrations by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste committee/judges to be amongst the leading solutions.
All project partners GAW technologies, LÖMI, IVV and Lober have worked hard to achieve this great success.
We are very much looking forward to our pitch on November 29th in New York City and to seeing who will be the winner of the US$3 million to enhance their solution scale up.
About the CreaSolv® Plastic recycling process for packaging:
Multi-layered packaging films are successfully applied in the consumer goods industry. What is hardly known: multilayer packaging films for foodstuff are high-tech products. Flexible plastic films may consist of up to 12 different layers, ensuring no adverse substances (e.g. oxygen, odorants, humidity) are penetrating from outside into the product or flavourings disappearing through the packaging film. Additionally multilayer films provide light protection, sterility and allow hygienic handling. No advantage without drawbacks: Multilayer packaging films often contain very different, sometimes incompatible polymers which cannot be separated to grade purity and thus not reasonably recycled by extrusion. Such types of waste streams are currently incinerated as secondary fuel or landfilled. Every year million of tons of valuable plastic waste thus are withdrawn the material circle of plastics. Technologies based on the selective dissolution of polymers, known for more than two decades basically are appropriate to handle this type of mixed waste streams. Until very recently said process technologies were not economically viable. Compared to mechanical recycling by extrusion, solvent-based purification technologies (synonym: dissolution recycling) are capable to separate a multilayer flexible film into its constituents depending on the solvent.
The CreaSolv® Process precisely separates different polyolefins from a mixture of plastics waste. A selectively acting solvent physically dissolves individual polyolefin grades from mixed post-consumer flexible packaging waste. Insoluble residuals such as labels or inorganics, other polyolefins and polymers, pigments, debris, or organic residues can be effectively removed from the solution. In consecutive process steps, the polymer solution is purified, stabilised, and converted into PCR pellets. Further polyolefin grades can be extracted from the remaining insoluble residues with the same process by adjusting the parameters or modifying the solvent.
About Alliance to End Plastic Waste:
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste is a global nonprofit founded in 2019 to end plastic waste in the environment. Companies from across the entire plastics value chain are convened to work with the public sector, civil society and communities, and are testing and developing a portfolio of over 35 projects in 29 countries to advance a circular economy for plastics.
Find our more about the prize and the 5 finalists:
Finalists (theallianceprize.org)
November 2022