Collection and recycling
Getting plastic back, sorting it well and turning it into new products.
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Research
A bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate)
Yoshida, S. et al. | Science | 2016
Discovery of Ideonella sakaiensis, a bacterium found at a bottle recycling site that feeds on PET. It launched the field of enzymatic recycling.
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Technology
AI and robotic sorting
Commercial, widely deployed
Cameras, near-infrared sensors and machine learning identify each item on a recycling line and robots or air jets pick it out, raising purity and capture.
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Organization
Alliance to End Plastic Waste
Singapore
Industry-funded alliance investing in waste collection and recycling projects. Listed for reference; its members include major plastic producers.
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Research
An engineered PET depolymerase to break down and recycle plastic bottles
Tournier, V. et al. | Nature | 2020
An engineered enzyme depolymerized 90 percent of PET in about 10 hours, and the recovered building blocks were made into new bottles. The science behind Carbios.
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Organization
Bocas Recycle Center
Bocas del Toro, Panama
Local recycling company in Bocas del Toro, Panama, that collects plastics, cardboard, cartons, cans and glass, and is partnering with One Earth One Ocean and Seas & Straws to add ocean plastic recovery.
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Organization
Circular Action Alliance
Producer responsibility organization that runs packaging EPR programs on behalf of brands in several US states.
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Organization
Circulate Capital
Investment firm financing waste and recycling businesses in South and Southeast Asia, where leakage is highest.
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Organization
Closed Loop Partners
New York, USA
Invests in recycling and reuse infrastructure and runs industry consortia testing reusable cups and packaging.
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Technology
Deposit return systems and reverse vending
Proven at national scale
A small refundable deposit on drink containers, collected back through machines or shops, routinely returns more than 90 percent of bottles and cans.
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Technology
Digital watermarks for packaging
Industrial trials
Invisible codes printed across a package tell sorting cameras what the item is made of and whether it held food, so it can be sorted precisely.
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Technology
Enzymatic recycling of PET and polyester
Pilot to first commercial plants
Engineered enzymes break PET bottles, trays and polyester textiles back into their building blocks, which can be made into new plastic of virgin quality.
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Organization
GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives)
Network of grassroots groups building zero waste cities and fair work for waste pickers, as an alternative to burning plastic.
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Organization
Global Plastic Action Partnership
Hosted by the World Economic Forum; helps countries build national plastic action roadmaps with government, business and civil society.
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Technology
Hydrothermal recycling
First commercial plant in development
Uses supercritical water to break mixed plastics, including flexible films, back into hydrocarbons for new plastic production.
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Organization
Loopway
Featured partner: a circular economy directory covering all 50 US states and a growing list of countries, connecting people to the organizations, programs and projects that keep reusable materials out of landfills.
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Organization
Ocean Recovery Alliance
Hong Kong
Hong Kong based group behind practical tools that help cities and businesses measure and reduce plastic leakage.
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Organization
One Earth One Ocean
Munich and Kiel, Germany | Founded 2011
German nonprofit that builds its own waste-collecting boats and runs local collection and sorting teams to clear plastic from rivers, harbours and coasts.
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Technology
Open-source community recycling
Widely used at small scale
Small shredders, extruders and presses built from free plans let schools, makerspaces and villages recycle plastic into products locally.
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Organization
Plastic Bank
Vancouver, Canada | Founded 2013
Pays collectors in coastal communities a premium for plastic they gather, using a digital record to trace the material to brands that reuse it.
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Organization
Plastic Free Bali (Rotary)
West Bali, Indonesia
A Rotary Foundation global grant by the Rotary Clubs of Bali Seminyak, Woodend (Victoria) and Perth with Yayasan Biosfir Indonesia, bringing waste sorting, composting, recycling and door-to-door education to four villages beside West Bali National Park.
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Research
Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean
Jambeck, J. et al. | Science | 2015
First global estimate of plastic entering the ocean from land, and a clear case that better waste management in fast-growing economies is the biggest lever.
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Organization
Precious Plastic
Founded 2013
Free open-source plans for small shredders, extruders and presses so any community can recycle plastic into products locally.
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Technology
Pyrolysis and other chemical recycling
Mixed record
Heats mixed plastic without oxygen to make oils. Promoted as a fix for hard-to-recycle plastic, but its benefits are strongly debated.
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Technology
Recycled plastic building materials
Commercial
Mixed and low-value plastic is compressed into boards, blocks and bricks for construction, creating a market for plastic nobody else will buy.
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Technology
Recycling ships at sea: the SeeElefant
In development; first ship planned for 2027
A converted freighter with sorting, shredding and recycling systems on board that can anchor at plastic hotspots with no recycling capacity and process about 60,000 tonnes a year.
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Organization
RiverRecycle
Helsinki, Finland | Founded 2019
Finnish company that installs river cleaning systems on heavily polluted rivers and turns the collected plastic into building boards, creating local jobs.
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Organization
Rotary Waste to Resource Hub (Philippines)
Victoria, Laguna, Philippines
A Rotary global grant with Australian and Philippine clubs, led by Dana Asia and Nexuz, turning hard-to-recycle plastic sachets into eco-bricks and pavers in Victoria, Laguna: 7.2 tonnes recycled a year and 12 jobs created.
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Organization
Seas & Straws
Bocas del Toro, Panama, and Germany | Founded 2018
Founded by eco warrior Jana Koebel: a plastic-free living and travel hub, plastic-free consulting for hotels, and on-the-ground recycling projects with One Earth One Ocean in Bocas del Toro, Panama.
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Technology
Solvent-based purification
Early commercial
Dissolves a single plastic in a solvent to strip out colour, odour and contaminants, then recovers the polymer without breaking its chains.
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Organization
The Recycling Partnership
Works with US communities and companies to improve curbside recycling access, carts, education and sorting.
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Organization
Tijuana River Project
Cross-border river pollution reporting and restoration on the Tijuana River, linked to Rotary global grant proposals with RiverRecycle.