Terracle specializes in the chemical recycling of waste plastics, producing high-purity recycled terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG) from disposable coffee cups, low-grade plastics, polyester, and PET materials. This is achieved through a process known as depolymerization, a form of chemical recycling.
Depolymerization breaks down plastic polymers made through polymerization to make monomers. The advantage of this technique is the short reaction time at low temperatures and atmospheric pressure. In this process, the supplied waste plastic is pulverized regardless of color and put into the reactor. There is no need to clean or dry waste.
In the rector, the biocatalyst and solvent depolymerize with PET to decompose PET into monomers. The process operates at a temperature below 100 degrees, and no catalysts harmful to the environment are used. Solvents and catalysts are purified, recovered, and reused through distillation and filtration. Non-PET plastics and impurities are removed via filtration, while the PET is broken down into monomers, converted into TPA, and then purified. The final step involves drying and controlling particle size to produce high-purity TPA.
