EnviroPET features in PhotonHub Europe video series profiling companies supported through EU Photonics Accelerator Programmes.
EnviroPET Ltd is an environmental technology company with a mission to transform the world of PET recycling. Established in Ireland in 2014, the company relocated to Scotland in 2022 where a mature plastics component market exists. EnviroPET’s photonics-enabled technology aims to reduce waste, enable more intensive use of post-consumer PET (rPET), reduce CO2 emissions and increase output, thereby supporting the European Commission’s priority of A European Green Deal.
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is the material of choice for most high-volume consumer products as it is strong/light and also FDA and EFSA approved for holding potable water. The EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive’s (SUPD) minimum requirements for recycled content requires every EU country to ensure that PET beverage bottles incorporate at least 25% recycled plastic by 2025. EnviroPET’s patented solution will enable manufacturers to comply with the SUPD legislation by successfully integrating post-consumer PET with Virgin PET raw material input streams.
EnviroPET first engaged with the EU Photonics Accelerator Programme in 2020 and their application for support resulted in a new international cross-border collaboration. The initial scouting was carried out by TNO in the Netherlands as an expert in optical sensors. This scouting engagement identified VTT in Finland as the ideal partner to collaborate on and lead the project due to their expertise in heavy industrial processing and environmental technologies.
EnviroPET was approved to carry out a feasibility project with VTT to determine the viability of the concept and the required measurements. Following the successful completion and outcomes of the feasibility project, the company applied and was approved for a follow-on innovation support project led by VTT to develop their prototype for the target application using cutting-edge photonics technologies.
EnviroPET’s overall ambition is to improve PET melting and processing through their solution, in order to reduce waste by minimising industrial process failures, enable more intensive use of recycled PET, reduce energy consumption, improve product quality and increase output. See more at enviro.pet.
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PhotonHub has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Grant Agreement n*101016665, in Public Private Partnership with Photonics21.
