The
ECO IMPATTO project is born with the aim to develop an innovative technology of transformation, allowing the realization of composites and articles made of materials originated from heterogeneous plastic waste, but with high aesthetic and functional characteristics such as to be able to increase market breakthrough for applications for which similar products are already employed or to facilitate the dissemination and adoption of new ones, allowing the replacement of products made with finest materials.
The ECO IMPATTO technology is very innovative and in particular provides the following advantages:
- allows to significantly improve the aesthetic and functional qualities of those products already manufactured with plastic waste by increasing the penetration of recycled plastic waste in areas where they already exist (construction, building, etc.)
- opens very interesting and new opportunities in emerging applications where the aesthetic aspect is critical and which are, for this reason, now precluded to recycled plastics (i.e. street furniture)
- increases the population of recyclable plastics even in those not selectable fractions which today cannot be enhanced by mechanical recycling and therefore destined to energy recovery (incinerators)
- significantly reduces the energy consumption per unit of product obtainable, thanks to the unification into a single extrusion process the steps of granulation/homogenization and extrusion of the items (direct extrusion), today managed by the traditional technology as separate processes;
- contributes to the targets of sustainable growth posed by all the world's governments (including the European Community) as a top priority.
The success of the research creates the foundation for the development of
new Companies active in the production of such artifacts whose plastic matrix (heterogeneous plastics waste) will be increasingly available and, if not enhanced by mechanical recycling, directed to the so-called energy recovery (incinerators) with zero effect in terms of employment.