GRECO - Green Earth, Cleans Oceans

Research Project, 2021 – 2022

Purpose and goal: The project aims to rethink the concept of recycling post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Novel functionalised graphene called ‘nano-glue’ will be used to bind virgin PET with postconsumer-PET, sourced from ocean plastic.
By utilising this novel graphene functionalisation technique, high strength-high toughness recycled-PET can be produced with minimal dependence on virgin-PET. This makes it possible to produce recycled-PET based on a nanocomposite. Expected results and effects: Reduce virgin-PET dependence in recycling by adding funktionalised graphene. Improved recyclability and contribution to circular economy Identify and pursue commercial opportunities within the sports industry. Approach and implementation: Functionalised graphene will be synthesized. It will then be allowed to interact with both postconsumer-PET and virgin-PET. The interaction between functionalised graphene and PET will be studied. Following it the thermo-mechanical behaviour, the thermal history, and its impact on the interface between the functionalised graphene and PET will be studied. The investigation will help to understand the recyclability and thermal degradation at the interface. Finally, a go-to-market strategy and a commercial exploration within the sports market will be carried out.