Umincorp: urban mining of plastics
Themes: Materials, Social Impact
Market ready application
A TRL is a measure to indicate the matureness of a developing technology. When an innovative idea is discovered it is often not directly suitable for application. Usually such novel idea is subjected to further experimentation, testing and prototyping before it can be implemented. The image below shows how to read TRL’s to categorise the innovative ideas.
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Why?
Umincorp has developed a technology that separates plastics with such accuracy that it enables true circularity of plastics. It doubles the recovery rate at lower cost, less environmental burden, and higher selectivity than state-of-the-art alternatives.
How?
Magnetic Density Separation (MDS) is used to separate a fine mixed material flow of small particles, primarily rigid packaging waste. The output volume is large and pure enough for plastic manufacturers to use as secondary polymer source.
When?
In 2017, a full scale plant of 10.000 ton / year is completed. Considering the double recovery and fourfold added value of the end product, this technology already enables an economically self-sustaining recycling programme.
Jaap Vandehoek