Advanced Recycling: Closing the Loop on Plastic Waste

Advanced Recycling: Closing the Loop on Plastic Waste

Plastic waste remains one of the most pressing environmental challenges worldwide. While mechanical recycling has helped extend the life of certain plastics, it still leaves behind a significant portion of hard-to-recycle materials—especially multi-layer films, and contaminated waste. This is where Advanced Recycling comes in — not as a replacement, but as a complementary solution that expands what’s possible in circularity.

What is Advanced Recycling?

Advanced Recycling (AR), also known as chemical recycling, works by converting plastic waste back into basic molecular structures. Unlike mechanical recycling, which melts and remolds plastics, Advanced Recycling uses chemical processes such as pyrolysis, gasification, or depolymerization to convert complex waste into liquid or gaseous feedstock.

This feedstock is then refined and polymerized to produce new and high-purity resins that are identical to virgin plastics. These resins can meet the quality standards required for food-grade and pharmaceutical packaging, enabling plastics to be safely reused in sensitive applications.

The Role of Advanced Recycling in a Circular Economy

As the world pushes toward circularity, the importance of Advanced Recycling continues to grow. As global brands raise their sustainability ambitions, Advanced Recycling is emerging as a vital pathway to help turn those circular packaging goals into reality. Major consumer brands like Unilever, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, and Mars have pledged to include 25–50% recycled content in their packaging by 2025–2030, creating strong demand for high-quality recycled resin that meets food and pharmaceutical standards.

Governments are recognizing the potential of Advanced Recycling too. France, for instance, has positioned Advanced Recycling as a strategic pillar in its circular economy roadmap—including funding schemes, policy recognition, and support for pilot projects. France views Advanced Recycling as a pathway to reduce dependence on virgin fossil feedstocks and expand the nation’s recycling capacity, especially for complex plastics that mechanical methods cannot process efficiently.

Paving the Way Toward a Truly Circular Plastics System

Achieving a closed-loop system for plastics has long been a global challenge—and Advanced Recycling is proving to be the missing link. By transforming mixed and hard-to-recycle plastics into virgin-like feedstock, Advanced Recycling allows the same material to be reintroduced into sensitive applications, like food and pharmaceutical packaging. This capability moves the industry beyond traditional recycling limits, paving the way for a circular model where waste becomes opportunity, and every product can begin again.