Announcement: Guest Lecture in June!

We are happy to welcome our friend Licinio Díaz Expósito for a guest lecture on ENZYCLE on Friday, 11th of June 2021, at 11 a.m. (UTC +1).

For various reasons, several waste plastic fractions aren't suitable for plastic recycling processes.

The ENZYCLE project, funded by BBI-JU and the European Commission under the H2020 programme, aims to valorise and upgrade non-recycled plastic fractions through enzymatic processes to obtain high value-added products. Multilayer packaging, PET trays and clamshells or microplastics generate significant environmental impacts, as well as countless economic losses. For this reason, ENZYCLE, made up of a powerful consortium formed by a synergy of research organisations together with an important industrial presence, aims to encompass the entire value chain on the development of biotechnological tools and processes for the enzymatic treatment (biorecycling) of polymers.

ENZYCLE will therefore identify and select enzymes with a high hydrolytic activity on polyesters and polyolefins in order to set up an efficient production method and develop recycling processes at lab and pilot scale. All these processes and products obtained will be duly validated with the aim of developing new virgin PET, PU insulation foam and obtaining polyols for industrial applications. It will also tackle the microplastics problem and its impact on human health and the environment. The project will increase the sustainability of non-recycled plastic waste within the framework of a circular economy.