In Brief

  • Challenge: Plastics Challenge
  • Challenge Type: SFI Future Innovator Prize
  • Status: Complete

The Challenge

In Ireland, the fate of the vast majority of plastics (64%) that are generated are disposed in landfill or incineration with only about 33% recycled, primarily due to difficulty in segregating and sufficiently cleaning mixed plastics contaminated with food waste. However, the current approaches for disposal are not sustainable, particularly in light of the recent European Green Deal ‘zero air pollution’ objectives and recycling of plastic needs to increase to 50% by 2025. Therefore, alternative sustainable methods that take into consideration mixed contaminated plastics are needed.   

The Solution

Develop an innovative hybrid platform technology to sustainably process food waste and associated contaminated plastic packaging streams. The novel ‘plug and play’ TURNKEY platform will combine pre-treatment technologies for plastic followed by anaerobic digestion with food waste to produce new platform chemicals suitable for the pharmaceutical industry, production of bioplastics, and renewable biofuels. 

UN SDG Alignment

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

The Team

  • Team Lead: Dr Corine Nzeteu, University of Galway
  • Team Co-Lead: Prof. Ramesh Babu Padamati, Trinity College Dublin

Societal Impact Champion

  • Stephen Nolan, Green Generation