IBM Researchers Develop Radical New Recycling Process to Transform Old Plastic

This technology is part of IBM's annual "5 in 5" predictions detailing five innovations that will help change our lives in the next five years.

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11, 2019, /CNW/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) researchers have created a new technology called VolCat, a catalytic chemical process that can turn PET, a type of plastic commonly used in food packaging and polyester clothing, into a renewable resource. The cost-effective and sustainable innovation is capable of breathing new life into old plastic.

IBM Research’s VolCat chemical recycling process can make the most commonly used plastic polymer in the world, PET monomer (bottom left), out of mixed/dirty post-consumer waste (top photo). Unlike PET made from a mechanical recycling process, the VolCat-produced PET is 100 percent recyclable, giving it value far beyond its initial use and keeping our most common plastics in the recycling chain and out of the landfill.

Currently, more than 272 million metric tons of plastic is produced each year around the globe, with one-quarter of that made up of PET. VolCat aims to use a precise combination of chemicals, heat and pressure to reduce this amount of plastic, and ultimately the amount of waste, produced. This could completely transform the way we discard and manufacture plastic in the next five years.

To learn more about this new technology and IBM's full list of 5 in 5 predictions, visit the IBM Research blog and tune into a live presentation from the IBM Think conference on Wednesday, February 13 at 10 a.m. PT.

IBM Media Relations Contact:
Jeannie Entin
IBM Research Communications
[email protected]
646-460-9470

SOURCE IBM

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