We are all now familiar with separating our recyclables from our rubbish. We also know that plastics can prove difficult to sort into recyclable and nonrecyclable. Impact Recycling have created their BOSS technologies to extract manufacturing-ready polymers from the nonrecyclable incineration and export bound waste plastic streams, targeting “the pile that is left behind” after easy to recycle components have been removed. The technology can sort polymers with a narrow density difference using only water. Currently they have two novel processes (post-consumer films and clinical polymers) and one existing one (rigid polymer). For every ton of polymer they recycle, 4.51 tonnes of CO2 emissions are prevented.
James Finlayson, is the co-founder and CTO of Impact Recycling and is a chemical engineer with a passion for emissions reductions and technology. his responsibilities include research and development (R&D), engineering, plant design, procurement and ramp up, and board duties. He wants to use the Shott Scale up Accelerator to become an expert in developing a larger team by growing each individual and to continue to leverage his ideas and direction through a powerful group of engineers. He says that he is “conscious that ‘leading from the front’ can only carry a team/business so far and that more is required to make the next jump.” He hopes to achieve this using mentoring, networking, and training. He acknowledges that “I learn best by speaking with others about their experiences. I don’t have many contacts that have experience in doing something similar to me”, and sees the Shott Scale up Accelerator as a way of achieving this.
Impact aims to have completed the transition from a small business with one £2m site, to a medium sized business with three sites by summer 2023. Alongside this they plan to demonstrate at the requisite scale two different ‘first to market’ processes designed to handle problem feedstocks that are being incinerated and lay the financial and organisational foundations for a timely roll out of these processes. This way they can fully exploit their IP in these fields and realise the major carbon savings that this solution affords.
