Valorisation of polymer waste through Spectroscopy (ValSpec)

The VALSPEC (Valorisation of polymer waste through Spectroscopy) project aims to demonstrate the suitability of Near Infra Red Spectroscopy for monitoring and detecting contaminants in the melt section of the polyethylene recycling process. Current monitoring techniques used in many other recycling techniques, tend to analyse the solid polymer feedstock and are not economically viable for high speed polyethylene recycling operations. This new technique will use near-infrared spectrosopy equipment with multivariate analysis carried out and chemometric models produced to provide an early alert of non-compliance, that could be connected to an automated mechanical separation system. This will enable the production of higher grade recyclate, decrease product failures, reduce production downtime and decrease costs whilst increasing quality of end products.