The application and industrialisation of solvolysis and dissolution processes enable complex plastic waste from textiles, composites and multilayer laminates to be upcycled.
The GAIKER Technology Centre, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance, BRTA and expert in plastic and chemical recycling technologies, is coordinating the COMPLESOLV project which seeks to extend the circular economy to complex plastic waste from textiles, composites and multilayer laminates through the research and development of chemical recycling technologies based on solvolysis and dissolution processes. To do so, it has the support of Koopera Servicios Ambientales, S.Coop.I.S., Mecanizados Martiartu S.L. and Trienekens País Vasco, S.L.
This research,which began in 2024 and is funded by Bizkaia Provincial Council as part of its Line 1 Technology Transfer programme, seeks to provide a solution to the recovery of waste that cannot be treated by mechanical recycling technologies due to the complexity of its texture, composition or the bond between the materials that make it up.
The proposed solution is based on chemical recycling by solvolysis and dissolution, as its application and industrialisation enable upcycling, i.e. the production of new plastic materials or products of a higher quality, ecological and economic value, avoiding linear models and opting for circular models for the use of resources. It is a question of promoting the circular economy.
To achieve this goal, COMPLESOLV is divided into four phases:
1. Characterisation and conditioning of complex waste (multilayers, textiles and composites).
2. Research into solvolysis and selective dissolution processes applied to complex waste that is difficult to recycle.
3. Research into advanced purification and quality control of solvolysis and selective dissolution products.
4. Technical-economic and environmental validation and assessment
The development of this project sets out to meet current demands for infinite recycling to products of equivalent quality to virgin material, plastic products derived from chemical recycling with synthesis or food grade and recycled products with very low levels of impurities to fulfil the specifications demanded by secondary raw material markets. Furthermore, it also seeks to contribute to better management of complex waste with plastics that are difficult to treat deposited in landfills in the Basque Country and to ensure that the recycled products that reach the markets come from processes with a lower impact on the use of resources (natural solvents), energy (low temperature reactions) and zero waste (products and by-products used globally).
