More
    HomeTOPICSCircular EconomySchneider Electric collaborates with GR3N to tackle plastic recycling challenges and drive...

    Schneider Electric collaborates with GR3N to tackle plastic recycling challenges and drive circularity in chemical sector

    Published on

    spot_img

    Schneider Electric, leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, has partnered with GR3N, PET chemical recycler, to create the first open automation system for the advanced plastic recycling industry. 

    With 50% of global plastic waste ending up in landfills and only 9% recycled, GR3N developed MADE, the Microwave Assisted DEpolymerization solution. This new process breaks down PET into its chemical building blocks that can be recombined to create new PET pellets with virgin-like quality for packaging and textiles, effectively closing the loop for hard to recycle plastic. The technology is based on alkaline hydrolysis, and it can manage a higher number of impurities compared to the existing ones. 

    The software-defined automation system decouples hardware from software, allowing devices and equipment to be freely connected across architecture layers, regardless of manufacturer. It acts as the digital backbone of industrial operations at the plant, providing the foundation to make more informed decisions. This approach allows MADE to be also technological demonstration of a new generation of automation systems, where the intertwining between OT and IT enables the exploitation of advanced functionalities for operations management and data analytics. 

    “Through software-defined automation and hardware independence, we have been able to effectively de-risk our operations and push the boundaries of our technology,” said Fabio Silvestri, Head of Marketing and Business Development at GR3N. “We’ve been able to reconfigure our systems quickly when we see opportunities to improve efficiency, while avoiding supply chain issues due the hardware agnostic nature of the system. This is what is needed to make advanced plastic recycling at reality at scale.” 

    Global demand for plastics is expected to triple by 2060, with the amount of plastics in the ocean predicted to outweigh fish. Meeting demand and curbing pollution, while achieving net zero by 2050, requires a consumption model revolution.  

    The partnership between GR3N and Schneider Electric, that has started with the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding, will enable the chemical recycler to scale operations to new sites quickly and cost-effectively.  The solution is expected to reach industrial scale by 2027 with the construction of a 35-40kta plant which will include the pre-treatment, depolymerization and repolymerization.  

    “Every year, people produce around 460 million tons of plastic, approximately 70% of which are sent to landfills or mismanaged,” said Christophe de Maistre, President Energy & Chemicals, Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric. “If we want to overcome the scale of plastic waste, there are certain non-negotiables. We must see integration across the whole product cycle, modularization to optimize and standardize engineering processes, as well as software defined automation solutions that deliver scalability, break siloes and acts as a gateway to advanced analytics. This project with GR3N demonstrates all these principles, improving flexibility, scalability and the efficiency of their solution and enabling them to grow to an industrial scale.” 

    Latest articles

    Nokian Tyres’ Romanian factory earns ISCC PLUS certification

    Nokian Tyres’ factory in Oradea, Romania has obtained the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification...

    Clean Recycle expects 10 percent growth in packaging waste collection for 2025

    Clean Recycle, one of the leading players in the local packaging responsibility transfer market...

    Schengen accession: Romania saves 53 million euros and reduces 95,000 tons of CO2 every year

    Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area with land borders represents, in addition to a...

    Garanti BBVA Forest: 6,200 trees planted across multiple regions in Romania

    Garanti BBVA Forest, a project launched in 2023 to celebrate the bank’s 25th anniversary...

    More like this

    Nokian Tyres’ Romanian factory earns ISCC PLUS certification

    Nokian Tyres’ factory in Oradea, Romania has obtained the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification...

    Clean Recycle expects 10 percent growth in packaging waste collection for 2025

    Clean Recycle, one of the leading players in the local packaging responsibility transfer market...

    Schengen accession: Romania saves 53 million euros and reduces 95,000 tons of CO2 every year

    Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area with land borders represents, in addition to a...