Mechanical Recycling

Our technological activity is based on the treatment of material flows from post-consumer waste of all types (packing and packaging waste, end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), construction and demolition waste (CDW ) and composite materials, amongst others) as well as industrial and emerging waste. We apply various assessment, adaptation (characterisation and conditioning) and separation technologies to these flows. The aim is to design and assess specific recycling processes which allow recovered material fractions of the highest quality to be obtained and returned to the economic cycle.

Our knowledge transfer to the recycling industry in the field of mechanical recycling is based on providing innovative technological solutions in order to improve its technological competitiveness and positioning.

The waste treated includes:

• Urban solid waste (USW)
• Light packaging waste
• End-of-Life vehicles (ELVs)
• Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
• Construction and demolition waste (CDW)
• Emerging waste: CDs and DVDs, flat screens, toners, etc.
• Industrial and production waste

The centre's experience in this field includes the following aspects:

• Waste sampling and characterisation
  • Determination of its nature and composition (materials, elements, calorimetric analysis, use as fuel…)
  • Conditioning and texturisation (grinding, crushing, washing, drying…)
• Development and assessment of integrated waste management systems
  • Waste collection logistics
  • Treatment and recycling schemes
• Physical separation of materials and purity improvements
  • By density, shape and size (hydrocyclones, densimetric tables, vibrating screens…)
  • By electromagnetism (electrostatic and magnetic separators…)
  • By other properties (thermal fractionation, flotation…)
• Automatic identification and detection for separation
  • Spectroscopic identification (NIR, MIR, SSS…) of polymers, additives, loads and reinforcements
  • Detection of materials and particles using sensors and sight
• Prototype and pilot plant development
  • Development and implementation of recycling systems and lines by combining different operations and technologies
  • Viability studies of waste-treatment, fraction-separation and materials-recycling schemes
• Definition and development of new high value added products and applications based on recycled plastics
• Reuse
• Active disassembly