The Alliance to End Plastic Waste to fund chemical recycling projects

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, a Singapore-based nonprofit formed in 2019 by companies from the plastics and consumer goods value chain, has launched a request for proposals (RFP) for projects related to chemical recycling technologies and business models. The organization says it will award $1 million to $20 million to eligible projects. 

The alliance says its goal is to minimize the volume of plastic waste that is landfilled or incinerated by maximizing the value recovered from this material, adding that advanced recycling is one way to achieve this.

Advanced recycling refers to emerging technologies that enable end-of-life plastics to be converted back into high-value products. The organization says that includes recent advancements in sorting technology and for recycling using mechanical or chemical transformation processes.

The alliance says it plans to issue other RFPs in 2021 to address other advanced recovery and recycling techniques, such as advancements in sorting technology and mechanical recycling, as well as for innovative business models and product design. 

"Traditional mechanical recycling processes have limitations, in particular when dealing with mixed or contaminated products," the organization's website says. "Hence a large majority of plastics at end of life have little value and end up in landfill or waste-to-energy. Chemical recycling can fill a void in the plastics recycling loop, provide value to plastic waste as a feedstock, conserve valuable resources and contribute to the creation of low carbon circular economy."