Chemicals group Dow and consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) plan to develop a new chemical recycling technology for difficult-to-recycle plastic waste by combining their expertise in dissolution processes. Their focus is on post-consumer polyethylene from households, the companies announced in late March following the signing of a joint development agreement.
The intended input materials for the process are rigids, flexible and multi-layer packaging, the companies said. The technology is to be designed to deliver high quality post-consumer recycled (PCR) polymer with lower greenhouse gas emissions than fossil-based polyethylene. Procter & Gamble intends to use this PCR polymer in its packaging.
Within the scope of the joint project, the multinationals aim to combine their patented technologies and know-how in the dissolution process. Dow and P&G highlighted the decades of experience in materials science, manufacturing capabilities and large-scale supply chain management each company brought to the joint endeavour. This expertise would be important to the development of a new recycling technology that could be deployed at commercial manufacturing scale. The global partnership was being launched immediately and was expected to run until commercialisation, the companies said.
