Page 54 - Plastics News April 2025

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Plastics dissolve in this method when solvents Potentially scalable for industrial applications
break them apart from additives and dyes and
other contaminating elements. After purification Can work in landfill environments
the recovered plastic obtains sufficient quality to Challenges:
become raw material for future products.
Slow degradation process
Key Benefits:
Need for further research and optimization
Produces near-virgin-quality plastics
6. AI-Powered Sorting Systems
Can remove contaminants effectively

Suitable for a wide range of polymers

Challenges:

Chemical solvent safety and disposal concerns

Expensive for large-scale implementation

5. Microbial Decomposition

Recycled plastic materials present difficulties be-
cause of the necessity to effectively sort various
Scientists use bacteria and fungi as microorgan- plastic types. Using machine learning together
isms to achieve natural plastic degradation that with computer vision elements in sorting sys-
produces harmless end products. Laboratory tems allows for higher accuracy and improved
studies indicate that Ideonella sakaiensis among separation speed among plastic materials.
other bacteria demonstrates efficient PET plas-
tic decomposition abilities. Key Benefits:
Key Benefits: Reduces contamination in recycling streams

Environmentally friendly with no toxic byprod- Increases efficiency in waste management facili-
ucts ties
54 PLASTICS NEWS April 2025