The CHEMCYCLE project is researching and developing advanced chemical recycling technologies that could recover around 285,000 tonnes of complex plastic waste each year.
GAIKER Technology Centre, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance, BRTA, is participating in the CHEMCYCLE project, whose main objective is to carry out industrial research applied to chemical recycling technologies (pyrolysis, solvolysis) with the potential to recover around 285,000 tonnes of plastic waste that is difficult to recycle in the Basque Country and is currently destined for landfill. This waste, which includes fragments of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), textiles, rejects from the paper sector and plastic fractions from urban and industrial waste, can be transformed into high-value raw materials for Basque industry.
Increasing European regulatory pressure to reduce waste disposal, the low recycling rate of certain complex plastic streams and the need to move towards a real circular economy, reducing dependence on fossil raw materials in various industrial sectors, are the main reasons that gave rise to this project in 2025, which is part of the HAZITEK programme to support business R&D. This is a strategic industrial research and experimental development project involving ten companies, including Tradebe (project leader), through its ELV recycling facilities at FRAGNOR, Amorebieta, along with two research centres in the Basque Science and Technology Network and the environmental cluster, ACLIMA.
CHEMCYCLE will focus on the research and development of advanced chemical recycling technologies for the recovery of complex plastic waste, most of which ends up in landfills or is destined for energy recovery. This will involve the study of improved and automated pre-treatments, as well as the development and optimisation of pyrolysis and solvolysis chemical recycling processes to obtain oils, solids and monomers that can be reused as raw materials. New knowledge will also be generated in upgrading and purification technologies for the chemical products obtained, adapting their physicochemical parameters to market specifications. Finally, the economic and environmental viability of the processes developed will be assessed.
GAIKER's work
GAIKER Technology Centre, with extensive experience in chemical recycling, will participate in the research and validation on a laboratory scale (TRL 3-4) of pyrolysis processes applied to complex plastic waste, as well as catalytic solvolysis processes for PET and polyurethane. It will also work on optimising the performance of the processes and improving the quality of the products obtained, with the aim of maximising their potential for valorisation and adaptation to market specifications.
Project partners
CHEMCYCLE (ZE-2025/00033) brings together 10 companies, 2 research centres from the Basque Science and Technology Network and the environmental cluster, ACLIMA, all working together to ensure an integrated approach from waste collection to its reintroduction into the market:
• Participating companies: Tradebe Amorebieta (coordinator), Zorroza Gestión, Koopera, Tamoin, Global Factor, Lucart, Eiforsa, Vimansa, Nypsa and Asfaltia.
• Technology centres: GAIKER and TECNALIA.
• Cluster: ACLIMA.
This strategic alliance, which integrates waste managers, engineering companies, manufacturers and research centres, fosters a sustainable and circular model in the recycling industry.
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Support for Business R&D Aid Programme – HAZITEK Action co-financed by the Basque Government’s Department of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability and the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund 2021-2027 (ERDF)