“The strong consortium of UPLIFT including its advisory board will (…) develop new or updated value chains able to welcome the upcycled polymers produced along with the project and allow their introduction in the plastic sector and our lives in the coming years” – Interview with AIMPLAS

How is AIMPLAS developing new supply chains?

AIMPLAS, The Technological Institute of Plastics, is a specialist in offering global solutions for the entire value chain of plastics. One of UPLIFT specific objectives is to focus on the evaluation of the current value chains of plastic materials to identify their limitations for the introduction of new sustainable polymers from different points of view, technical, economical, regulatory, and standardization aspects, as well as gaps to incorporate the new materials.

AIMPLAS considers quite relevant to address an in-depth analysis of each one of the links (actors) composing the plastic value chain which has to be aligned, from the chemical industry producing and supplying raw materials (additives, fillers, monomers, and polymers) through the compounders, formulators, and transformers of plastics, their users including stakeholders as well as the waste managers and recyclers together with the Regulatory & Standardization Committees and policymakers related with them, reaching the citizens and their associations as representative of the society. All of them are relevant and no one has to be left out of this analysis to achieve our objective, to pave the way for the incorporation of new more sustainable polymers in the food and drink packaging sector and achieve a real and effective inclusion in our society.

AIMPLAS counts with more than 700 associated companies and is a member of a huge number of Regulatory & Standardization Committees, what, in combination with the strong consortium of UPLIFT including its advisory board will evaluate all these aspects to develop new or updated value chains able to welcome the upcycled polymers produced along with the project and allow their introduction in the plastic sector and our lives in the coming years. Dissemination of the results as soon as they will be generated in both academic and public frameworks will be crucial in this regard.

What are the key tools for boosting the replicability and transferability of new business models and processes?

The key tools for boosting the replicability and transferability of the new circular economy new business models and processes will be based on the production of overarching guidelines and recommendations that spans broader products and sectors, the dissemination previously mentioned, as well as the involvement of relevant stakeholders and policymakers. The creation of cross-sector interconnections in the bio-based economy and interaction with other research projects with common objectives and targets will also be very useful to reach this goal.