PRESTO · PLASTIC RECYCLING AND SORTING WITH TIME-GATED OPTICAL RECOGNITION

The separation of multi-material streams into highly pure mono-material is the major issue that hinders the development of an efficient and affordable circular economy for plastics. Nowadays, automatic sorting facilities are able to sort and recover a small portion of collected plastic (≤15%) and often with low purity. Most importantly, there is no general method to sort food-grade and high purity (>99%) polymers. Therefore, recycled polymers (of which plastic items are made of) can only be used for the production of objects with a much lower value. Our solution is an invisible marker made of luminescent silicon nanoparticles.Our business model provides advantages for all stakeholders within the plastic value-chain by giving value to post-consumer plastic that is now wasted. Polymer producers will embed our ink into virgin polymers to make plastic easily recyclable and reusable. Recycling companies will benefit of a reduced treatment cost and a higher value of the sorted material. Brand owner, retailer and logistics will then be able to finally close the loop for their packaging. Together, with our industrial partners, we successfully demonstrated the working principle of PRESTO, and tested the technology on commercially available sorting machinery. Plastic specimens have been prepared: compatibility with the polymer and its most common additives have been assessed, as well as compliance to safety regulation for food-grade plastics. To reach our goal, we need to engage as many stakeholders as possible into the project. The plastic industry needs high purity recycled plastics as a raw material and it needs it now. The Women Tech prize will generate the necessary momentum to make SINBIOSYS the first successful manufacturer of luminescent silicon nanomaterials in Europe.