Novel Advanced Mechanical PVC Recycling Process

ReVentas see plastic waste as a valuable resource that has yet to be fully harnessed until now. Whilst there is a high level of focus on providing recycling solutions for packaging plastics, typically polyethylene(PE), polypropylene(PP) or PET, little to no work is being done to find recycling solutions to the 2 second largest polymer group by volume after PE/PP(polyolefins), PVC. This material is typically used in construction/utility applications with 40MT consumed in 2021 and 1.2MT consumed in the UK.

The challenge preventing widescale recycling of PVC is the phthalates which are used as plasticizers in the material, giving PVC many of its unique properties. Many of these old additives are now banned or regulated by SVHC legislation, adopted into UK law, with similar regulations in the USA/RoW. The result is recycled-PVC being restricted from further resale with the majority landfilled or exported to countries will less stringent regulations, where it is typically burnt producing hydrocarbon and chlorinated gases.

ReVentas have developed a novel, patented solvent based recycling technology currently at pilot scale which can purify polymers of contaminants and produce a virgin-like substitute recycled polymer. This has been developed for PE and PP, however the process is applicable to any type of polymer with the right processing conditions, solvents and equipment. This feasibility project will see ReVentas develop and demonstrate that the process can be modified for PVC, removing these banned/regulated additives and producing a virgin-like material tested and evaluated for market suitability by our project partners and strategic petro-chemcial partners, including technical/commercial validation studies to access the scale up potential of this new PVC process.

The outcomes from the project will see ReVentas quickly scale the technology to pilot scale with private investment already identified if this project can demonstrate the technology at lab scale first.