RecyQMeter: Application-specific quality of recycled plastics

Abstract

Objectively quantifying the quality of recyclates and finding suitable applications for individual products is challenging in plastics recycling. Confronted with ambitious targets for recycled content, industry urgently needs a robust method to understand the quality of recycled plastics. This study describes the RecyQMeter tool, which was developed to address this challenge and help recyclers position their secondary materials in an appropriate market. RecyQMeter contains a first-of-its-kind extensive application-property matrix, a large dataset of application-specific material requirements obtained through data mining, expert interviews, literature searches and modeling. RecyQMeter generates a value between 0 and 1, which refers to the quality of recyclates relative to virgin plastics used in different market applications. Additionally, this tool can be used to automatically estimate substitution ratios in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. RecyQMeter makes a significant step forward in standardizing plastics recycling and supporting decision makers in achieving higher circularity in the plastics sector with a large database, ease of use, transparent calculations, and a comprehensive approach.

Keywords: Circular economy; LCA; Plastics; RecyQMeter; Recycling quality.