News

27 July 2017

Turning plastic packaging waste into a valuable resource

A consortium of 20 European partners including the ICLEI European Secretariat is working to reinvent the plastic packaging treatment process, making recycling more accessible, cost-effective and profitable for both citizens and professionals in the field.

Funded by the European Union, PlastiCircle (Improvement of the plastic packaging waste chain from a circular economy approach) will rethink the different phases involved in transforming plastic packaging into valuable products. In particular, it will focus on the development of smart containers for separate waste collection and on the improvement of transport routes and sorting technologies, with the aim of increasing recycling rates in Europe and achieving recovery within the same value chain. The innovations will be piloted in the cities of Utrecht (the Netherlands), Valencia (Spain) and Alba Iulia (Romania).

Launched in June, PlastiCircle is led by the Packaging and Logistics Research and Innovation Center (ITENE) and will run over four years, defining business plans and promoting market uptake of the proposed solutions through training and awareness raising activities for citizens, institutions and private companies.

For more information, click here.