Benjamin Webb’s Post

"What if plastic was regenerative instead of destructive?" After 4 years of development, Sway developed a scalable solution to replace Petroleum based flexible packaging. ▶ TPSea (Thermoplastic Seaweed Resin ) A Microplastic-free resin made from regenerative ocean crop that can replenish ecosystems and that support communities. ▶ It's bio-based, home compostable and made mostly from seaweed. ▶ Sway sources seaweed from vetted ocean farms and processors in emerging blue economy zones and extracts the natural polymers of seaweed, which mimic the qualities of plastic. ▶ The breakthrough technology enables seaweed to melt and flow seamlessly through traditional plastics equipment.  ▶ Trend tracks: #seaweed #packaging #plasticalternatives #wastereduction #circulareconomy #regenerativesolutions #compostablepackaging #scalability #innovation #leavenotrace #biomaterials ▶ Read more: https://lnkd.in/gsekyBTM

While the textile sector has already witnessed exciting innovations from pioneers and startups, there’s still considerable groundwork ahead to truly transition to renewable raw materials and to transform the linear value chain into a circular one. To foster collaboration and knowledge sharing within the textile fiber domain, VTT, Kemira, and Valmet hosted the first-ever Nordic Textile Fibre Day. What topics dominated the discussions when stakeholders across the value chain gathered to address the challenges and opportunities of the transformation in the textile industry? 👉🏻 Read our article: https://lnkd.in/dNqBtryD #ChemistryWithAPurpose #PerfectThePicture #NordicTextileFiber #CircularEconomy

Ecomaison, Covestro, Secondly and Federal Eco Foam Launch Research Project French company Ecomaison has dedicated itself to collecting and recycling used furniture and has been working with Covestro for a few years to utilize its chemical recycling technology for this purpose. With this advanced process, both raw materials originally used can be recovered - the polyol as well as the precursor to the isocyanate TDI. The aim of the partners is to recycle the sorted polyurethane foams as efficiently as possible by combining mechanical and chemical technologies after careful sorting by foam type in the mattress cutting plants. Collaborations leveraging own expertises with like-minded partners are key: In addition to Ecomaison and Covestro, the French dismantling company Secondly and Federal Eco Foam, a Belgian specialist in the mechanical recycling of flexible foams, are involved as partners in the project, which is planned to run for a maximum of 24 months. The project is called Foam Recycling Ecosystem Evolution (FREE and coordinated by Covestro and half-funded by Ecomaison. For the FREE consortium, the motivation lies in the added value of the material that can be recovered from the used foams and the opportunity to enter a more sustainable circular economy. The partners want to explore all possibilities in a future-oriented foam recycling ecosystem and are convinced that chemical and mechanical recycling will complement each other in a meaningful way. As dismantler and sorting actor, Secondly is interested in empowering its sorting processes to be able to supply to recyclers a specified quality of foam. At the same time, the project will provide a good picture of how the foam recycling market in the coming years may look like. The partners truly believe that chemical and mechanical recycling can be complementary given different specifications of inlet materials being sorted already at dismantlers. To provide added value to the PU foam material, the consortium will investigate all possibilities in a future oriented eco-system of foam recycling. The research and development project includes the foam sorting at the dismantling step, as well as a comparative feasibility study for two recycling processes for the sorted foams covering economic and ecologic value co-creation. ...... More info pls click https://lnkd.in/g-5XikXj

📣 More good alumni news! Veridis secured funding to further develop and bring its MADSCAN technology to market. The startup's innovative analysis technology is changing the game in plastics recycling. 🧴♻️ 🚀 Veridis is a 2022 XTC Global Finalist that uses thermal analysis to determine what type of plastic is in each batch and improve quality control. The company's goal is to standardize quality control for EU plastic recycling. Every type of plastic has a unique thermal “fingerprint.” MADSCAN measures these thermal fingerprints by tracking thermal changes when heating and cooling a sample of recycled plastic. Using this analysis, recycling companies understand exactly which types of plastic are in each batch, which gives better quality guarantees to the buyers so they can use the recycled plastics reliably and effectively in their products. 🔬 What's on the team's roadmap? 💸 Secure funding (thanks to NETZSCH Group and DOEN Participaties B.V.) ⚙️ Further refine the technology 🙋♂️ Begin customer pilots in the Netherlands and Germany in 2024-2025 🌍 Europe-wide rollout of MADSCAN technology Read the full article here 👉 https://2ly.link/1xqON Congrats, Team Veridis! 💪 #impact #alumni #deeptech #innovation #sustainability #circularplastics Victoria Secorro John Nancy Cheryl Young Bill Nigel Jeroen Floris HighTechXL Techleap Constantijn

The TEXPOWER project can start 👕 🎉 The TEXPOWER project (Textile Polycotton Waste Evaluation and Recycling) has been granted by RVO. This project was submitted as part of the National Growth Fund Circular Plastics NL call. TEXPOWER was created in collaboration with 9 circular chain partners, consisting of both large and SME companies and knowledge institutions: CELLiCON, DPI - Shaping polymer innovation (as coordinator and on behalf of CPI, together with ISPT - Institute for Sustainable Process Technology), Enschede Textielstad, Frankenhuis Textielrecycling, KringCoop, de kringloop coöperatie , SaXcell, Hogeschool Saxion, Spinning Jenny and Textile Fiber Boost. Over the next 5 years we will work on this project with a total budget of €9.0M. What is the goal? #Polycotton is one of the most common textile types in both clothing and interior textiles. Together we try to build a transparent, circular polycotton textile value chain. This chain will be implemented for the future-proof earning capacity of the Netherlands. We achieve this goal by developing: ·        Accurate, innovative and efficient identification, sorting and data processing techniques ·        Interfering substance removal techniques ·        Mechanical and chemical recycling techniques of polycotton. This way we achieve fiber-to-fiber recycling. The high-quality raw materials are spun into polycotton yarns, which can be woven into functional textiles for work clothing, for example. In addition to the 9 partners mentioned, various 3rd parties are involved to apply their knowledge and innovative technologies. Together we realize a stable, functional circular chain. ♻️ #texpower #recycling #textilevaluechain #circularity

🌍 Revolutionizing Plastics: A Green Breakthrough from the Weizmann Institute of Science🌱 Billions of tons of plastic waste clog our planet, posing a growing threat to ecosystems and human health. At the forefront of addressing this crisis, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have developed a game-changing biodegradable composite plastic—strong, cheap, and easy to prepare. Published in ACS Nano, the study by Dr. Angelica Niazov-Elkan, Dr. Haim Weissman, and Prof. Boris Rybtchinski, with collaborators, introduces a material combining biodegradable polymers with tyrosine nanocrystals (yes, from cheese!). The result? A versatile plastic that’s not only durable but also easily broken down by bacteria—and even edible! This innovative material could revolutionize industries reliant on composite plastics, from automotive to aerospace, all while reducing environmental harm. The team is already working on scalable production methods to bring this solution closer to commercial reality. 💡 A small step in the lab, a giant leap for sustainability. Let’s rethink plastics for a greener future! #Innovation #Sustainability #GreenChemistry #PlasticPollution #climatechange

Some excellent news to come out today from HydroGraph. The packaging industry is faced with a whole raft of regulations mandating significant recycled PET content over the next few years - but high-quality clear rPET is under massive demand as a result, which is driving costs up. This is why I'm particularly excited about the breakthrough we're announcing at HydroGraph today. Our Fractal Graphene technology has demonstrated it can enhance strength of PET bottles, used as an additive at remarkably low concentrations, potentially providing a pathway to significantly reducing plastic consumption in bottle manufacturing with lighter weight bottles. This is exactly what brand owners are looking for - a way to manage costs by using less material overall, while maintaining performance. In a market where compromising on quality isn't an option, we're showing that sustainable innovations can also drive commercial value. #Plastic #Packaging #Innovation #PETbottles #PETplastic #Sustainability https://lnkd.in/epUCM7PF

🛑 Single-use plastics are one of the most relevant problems of our modern way of life, because they cannot be recycled or reused and consequently represent a massive waste of our natural resources. 📣 Bruno Ravanello and Mónica Gaspar Simões, Senior Researchers at AlmaScience, point the way forward: paper/wood and cellulose-based products are becoming popular due to their origin, properties, cost, and recyclability. ❓ Learn more about how AlmaScience is taking up this challenge, developing cellulose and paper-based solutions that turn today's industry needs into tomorrow's products. 🌐 Read here: https://lnkd.in/dUxnZiPv #BeyondPaper #ResearchAndDevelopment  #PrintedElectronics #GreenElectronics #OpenInnovation #SustainablePackaging

How do we ensure that we can recycle composite materials in a closed loop? Our research project #SolidCIRface within the Hybrid research group Biopolymer & Recycling Innovations (NHL Stenden and University of Groningen) will soon start within the 'Making Plastics Circular: Technical Innovations' programme, which is part of the National Growth Fund programme Circular Plastics NL. Six million euros were divided over ten projects in total. #SolidCIRface revolutionizes the recyclability of things like kitchen countertops by using dynamic bonds in composite materials. Traditional composites, difficult to recycle, can now be transformed with reversible network rearrangement, ensuring complete recycling of matrix and filler. This project sets a new standard for sustainable materials and promises environmentally friendly, high-quality surface products. In this project we will collaborate with our industrial partners Marlan® B.V. and AOC. The Incubator Program (a NWO (Dutch Research Council) call) of the National Growth Fund program Circular Plastics NL is conducting exploratory and foundational research. The research focuses on early developments of concepts (TRL 1-4) with the potential for large-scale applications. https://lnkd.in/eweJbJUV #circulareconomy #recycling #HyBRIt

Frankenhuis Textielrecycling, our Boer Group recycling company, participates in the ARAMAZING-project! Together with renowned project-partners University of Twente, Teijin Aramid, DEMCON suster (Demcon) and MTSA Technopower B.V. innovative polymerization technologies will be further developed to enable chemical recycling of aramids. In short: • Aramazing focuses on aramids, the valuable and strong plastic fibres used in diverse applications. • In the project innovative depolymerisation technology will be further developed to enable chemical recycling of aramids. • Collaboration with partners to tailor an effective collection system for used textiles and technical products is key. • Laying the groundwork for scaling up to industrial levels, contributing to circular and CO2-neutral production of aramids is the goal. Turning problems into possibilities In the face of global waste and pollution issues, aramids present a unique problem—and opportunity. These plastic fibres are embedded in various products, from clothing to industrial applications. The current mechanical and physical recycling techniques are insufficient, and the collection and processing chain for used textiles is not yet equipped for this task. We take up these challenges in this project and turn them into opportunities for sustainable development. Pioneering aramid recycling Aramazing focuses on the chemical recycling of aramids, using a new recycling process. By utilizing hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) technology and scaling up to a pilot setup, we aim to build a system for aramid recycling and material recovery. The project also involves the implementation of an effective collection chain for used textiles and technical products. From labatory to industry With ongoing research, development and testing, Aramzing aims to achieve insights into every component of the newly developed recycling loop for high quality aramid fibres. The results must give confidence that scaling up to an industrial level is both technically and economically feasible. The potential impact extends beyond just aramid production, possibly leading to broader applications of HTL-depolymerization technology. Embark on the path to sustainable aramids The Circular Plastics Roadmap is key to the community of the Circular Plastics Initiative. This landmark project contributes to this roadmap by addressing the circularity of plastic fibres used in high-end and durable applications. This project from ISPT - Institute for Sustainable Process Technology is co-funded with subsidy from the Topsector Energie by the Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat. #textilerecycling #closedloop #fashiontofiber #fibertofiber #aramid #chemicalrecycling #HTL #depolymerization https://lnkd.in/ecAaf-U8