Clariter, an international company with a home base in Israel has figured out a new industrial process that transforms used plastic into new source materials for other manufacturers.
As we are all aware plastic waste is one of the most recognized environmental issues today.
From global recycling failures, to ocean pollution and trying to do away with single-use items, it all boils down to the same question: What do we do with the hundreds of millions of tons of plastics still manufactured every year, and worse, the billions that have accumulated in the landfills and oceans all over the planet?
Clariter, patented technology offers a potential opportunity to overcome the plastic waste challenge by turning it into a new value chain independent of fossil fuels and their emissions.
The technology further offers an alternative to traditional recycling, which converts plastics into other plastics (mechanically) or to fuel – neither of which is ideal, environmentally speaking.
The company was established in 2003 by Israeli entrepreneur Ran Sharon along with Prof. Andrzej Bylicki, an elderly Polish chemist.
Over the years, with a total investment of some €35 million (about $38 million) – mostly from private sources – the company expanded its R&D center in Poland.
So how does it work? First, the plastic is thermally “cracked” into liquid, which is then refined into two types of hydrocarbons.
Subsequently, the hydrocarbons are distilled and either separated or mixed into the desired output: oil, solvents or wax.
The company maintains that its end products are of high-quality and pure. For example, the oil is clear, odorless and nontoxic.
Clariter’s solution might have the potential to tackle the plastic waste problem, reduce the dependency on newly sourced fossil fuels, and provide materials for a local manufacturing ecosystem in the community (a “ClariCluster”).
With some 80 employees in three continents, the company wants to establish a full-scale plant, possibly in Israel. The new full-scale plants should be able to handle some 60,000 tons of plastic annually. At this scale, which potentially results in some 50,000 tons of products, the plant would also be profitable.
Reference- Clariter website & PR, ZAVIT Science and Environment News Agency