Plastic PPE waste, which has been rapidly building up since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, could be given a new lease of life with a collaboration between Heriot-Watt University and Globus.
PPE waste. Credit: Fevziie / Shutterstock
Roughly 8.4 million tonnes of plastic waste has been generated since the pandemic, primarily attributed to PPE. Credit: Fevziie / Shutterstock
Covid-19 has caused around 8.4 million tonnes of plastic waste to enter the world's oceans or landfills, which has been met with stern criticism as the world attempts to reduce plastic pollution as part of bids to address the climate crisis.
Read more: 8.4 million tonnes of plastic waste generated by Covid-19, study finds
Much of this will wash ashore over the coming years or end up in garbage patches. Much of this plastic waste has been attributed to the increased use of PPE, including masks and respirators, that have been thrown away during the pandemic.
The partnership claims to revolutionise plastic recycling, by turning the waste into a secondary raw material called pyrolysis oil, which can then be refined into other PPE, fuels or plastic products.
“We will be working to develop a bespoke process that will be applied to PPE plastic waste that cannot currently be recycled mechanically due to various technological, economic or ecological reasons. As the world strives to reduce its landfill, ocean impact and carbon emissions, this project is a significant step towards addressing the increased waste generated during the global pandemic", said Aimaro Sanna, an associate professor at Heriot-Watt University.
Dr Sanna is an expert in the thermochemical conversion of biomass and waste material into other, similar products. He claims the product will be able to create 100 tonnes of new product annually - roughly 10kg per hour.
"However, our hope is that this new process will be adopted more widely. Many countries have been unable to process their plastic waste PPE properly. Our ground-breaking research aims to address these challenges providing an exemplar technique for application globally", he added.
The University is working alongside Globus, which is currently the UK's largest producer of PPE and has created over 300 million FFP respirators to various healthcare trusts across the UK per year since the onset of the pandemic.
The recycling tech has been installed at its factory in Golborne, Greater Manchester. The machine has been designed to heat and compact the plastic into large, reusable blocks.
Globus claims this process helps reduce the company's PPE waste by an estimated 85%.
“Placing environmentally green materials, technology, sustainability and recycling projects at the heart of our future strategy and investment is now key to our goals moving forward", the group's CEO Haraldur Agustsson said in a statement.
The company has revealed its "commitment" to helping the NHS reach its net-zero goals and helping it reduce plastic waste.
Read more: The 10 firms helping the NHS go green
The project has been co-funded by Innovate UK and the Scottish Funding Council.
Innovate UK's Jim Berryman described it as an "ambitious project" and the "exact kind of innovation" that was needed to reach net-zero.
"Working in collaboration with the Alpha Solway factory and Heriot-Watt University will see us applying research expertise to address a significant environmental challenge, helping deliver the Globus Group’s net-zero ambitions", he added.
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