Plastics Recycling

Depolymerization reactions break down plastic waste into their building blocks of polymers, to produce new materials with virgin-like qualities. Solvolysis, a form of depolymerization, uses solvents such as water, alcohols, or other organic substances to degrade polymers. This method is commonly applied in the recycling of plastics like PET, polyamides, and polycarbonates.

For example, in the recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), GXS dry screw vacuum pumps and EDS dry screw vacuum pumps are used to maintain a low-pressure environment during the depolymerization reaction, remove the volatile by-products, resulting in high-quality monomers that can be re-polymerized to create new virgin-like PET products. Additionally, by reducing the pressure in the reaction chamber, our chemical dry pumps lower the boiling points of Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and Polylactic acid (PLA) during recycling process, which enables depolymerization reactions to take place at reduced temperatures. This minimizes thermal degradation of the polymers and can enhance the efficiency of the process.

Pyrolysis breaks down mixed plastic waste in the absence of oxygen to produce oil, gas, and char, converting plastics back into useful chemicals and fuels. Edwards Vacuum systems and solutions maintain an oxygen-free, controlled environment in the flash pyrolysis reactors, ensuring efficient operation and high-quality outputs for further use.

Gasification converts mixed plastic waste into syngas (synthetic gas) by reacting it with a controlled amount of oxygen and steam at high temperatures. Edward EDP dry pump technology assists in maintaining the required pressure conditions inside the gasifiers, ensuring a consistent and efficient conversion process. Edwards vacuum products help in achieving optimal gasification conditions, resulting in clean syngas that can be used for energy production or as a chemical feedstock.

In solvent-based recycling, plastics are dissolved in solvents to separate different types of plastics and remove contaminants. Vacuum technology is employed to recover and reuse solvents, making the process more sustainable and cost-effective. Edwards Dry Screw vacuum pumps facilitate the evaporation and condensation cycles, ensuring minimal solvent loss and high recovery rates while maintaining the quality of the recycled plastics.