Innovative Plastic Resource Circulation Process Technology Development

Tightening waste plastic import restrictions in Asian countries triggered by China’s waste plastic import restrictions has caused waste plastic retention in Japan to become a major problem in recent years, and the same is true of marine plastic litter, which leaks waste plastic from land areas. There is an urgent need for recycling and other appropriate treatment of plastic resources, including waste plastic, that has been exported from Japan in the past.
In this project, NEDO will develop basic technologies to realize a highly efficient plastic resource recycling system while reducing the environmental burden by using advanced sorting technology and new material recycling technology for the large amount of waste plastic generated in society. Specifically, in order to dramatically increase the resource value of waste plastics, NEDO will collaborate in the development of (1) advanced sorting technology for waste plastics using complex sensing, AI, and the like, (2) advanced material recycling process technology, (3) petrochemical feedstock conversion technology that achieves a high resource conversion rate, and (4) highly efficient energy recovery and utilization technology. NEDO aims to achieve both advanced resource recycling and reduction of environmental impact by constructing an optimal treatment system according to the quality of waste plastic.

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• R&D Item (1) Development of an advanced sorting system
• R&D Item (2) Material Regeneration Process Development
• R&D Item (3) Petrochemical feedstock process development
• R&D Item (4) Development of high-efficiency energy recovery and utilization systems