VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the City of Nokia have teamed up to plan plastic recycling at the ECO3 business park in Nokia. The park is built around the bio and circular economy. The partners shared the plan on December 12, 2017.
The idea is a new concept for recycling plastic on an industrial scale. If it works, it could give rise to new businesses based on recycled plastic. It also fits the city’s urban strategy, since it could raise recycling rates and let local residents lead the way in material recycling.
VTT will draw up a plant concept, which means business operations can then be planned at industrial scale. Several factors shape the design. Among them are the volume and quality of the plastic, new technology on the market, the needs of local firms, interest from companies in Finland and abroad, and transport links.
The main goal is ambitious. Recycled plastic should become a material equal to virgin plastic. In addition, the study reviews the key technology options and gives a first estimate of investment and operating costs. It also maps possible investors and partner companies.
Verte Oy, the development company of the City of Nokia, will invite interested firms to join future cooperation. Meanwhile, VTT’s circular economy know-how is open to companies in the growing park.
Antti Arasto, research manager at VTT, said Finland still has a great deal of untapped potential for the rational use of waste and side streams. In his view, the shift toward new business models has only just begun.
Sakari Ermala, managing director of Verte Oy, said the company has drawn up a roadmap for ECO3. At its center is the reuse of recycled fractions on an industrial scale. If the plan comes true, he added, it would bring new jobs and an innovation chain for plastics recycling.
Satu Pasanen, a research scientist at VTT, leads the project. She said the work ties together three VTT priorities: the circular economy, plastics recycling and the growth of Finnish industry. It also matters to her personally, because it lets her help shape the area where she grew up.