21 IS THE FUTURE RECYCLING ur world’s resources are not endless and we are all cons- cious of the fact that we must reduce our wastage of resour- ces and increase the recycling of what we consume. However, in order to take a common holistic approach we need a clear overview of the real situation, so that producers, users and recyclers can take their individual responsibility in the chain and enable the circular economy to work. Trioplast is involved in the Resour- ce Efficiency and Circular Economy project, which was initiated by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Scien- ces (IVA).   The project, whose participants come from industry, research and politics, is divided into a number of sub-projects that focus on issues such as how the resource- efficiency of textiles, food and plastic can be increased in the future. What happens to plastic at the recycling station? Trioplast plays an important role in the Plastic sub-project.   “We have analyzed today’s plastic flow and it has been shown that there is a cle- ar need for improved recycling systems in which similar plastic types are sorted separately. At present there is a major value loss at recycling stations as different types of plastic are mixed and the quality of the recycled material is adversely af- fected,” says Caroline Ankarcrona, Project Manager at IVA.   The result is that companies deman- ding recycled plastic for the production of new plastic are negatively affected, becau- se the quality of the recycled material is not up to required standard.   “The impaired quality not only affects these companies – which is bad enough in itself – as the value loss also involves a risk that new business models for the handling of recycled plastic and raw materials do not have a chance to develop,” says Caro- line Ankarcrona, who adds that proposed solutions for an improved plastic flow will be presented in 2019, when the project is expected to finish. O FACTS ABOUT IVA The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences consists of decision-makers and experts from industry, academia and the public sector. The academy brings together knowled- ge and experience from close to 1,300 mem- bers divided up into 12 areas of expertise. In addition, over 200 companies are represented on the IVA’s Business Executives Council.