Lead partner organisation : Stad Gent (BE)
Total budget ERDF : € 5.50 million
Total budget : € 9.45 million
Start of the project : 2019
End of the project : 2022
Partners of the project : City of Ghent, Ghent University, University of Portsmouth Higher Education Corporation, Southend on Sea Borough Council (SBC), Municipality of The Hague, Van Werven Belgium bvba, TEAM2, Association pour la Recherche et le Développement des Méthodes et Processus Industriels (ARMINES), Metabolic B.V., D.P.L. Group Plastic Recycling, GRCT, Theys Recyclage, WeLOOP
Abstract of the project :
The 2S region is one of the most proliferative regions in the EU when it comes to generating plastic waste, but overall, plastic recycling rates are incredibly low (20-30%). Within the urban environment – often including cities near water bodies – a lot of plastic waste is available that would, in terms of quality, technically be eligible for recycling but is not effectively validated. These so-called ‘lost plastics’ can form a prominent role in the circular economy, providing actors and stakeholders with an economic opportunity to benefit by stepping away from traditional plastic disposal methods. These economic opportunities are not fully known/understood, collection logistics not fully developed, sorting facilities not well equipped or stakeholders not fully engaged. These are all barriers to realize the full potential of plastic in the circular economy and need to be overcome if the 2S region is to play a key role in delivering the EU strategy for plastics in the Circular Economy.
The objective of the PlastiCity project is to develop replicable strategies and solutions that are able to increase recycling rates in urban environments from 20-30% to over 50% by unlocking the use of ‘lost plastics’ as secondary resources from the urban environment. Additional objectives are:
- Develop technical strategies for (reverse) logistics and reprocessing
- Inducing behavioral change and creating capacity of stakeholders such as local governments and companies through urban platforms
- Demonstrate this in 4 case study cities in the 2Seas area (Ghent (BE), Den Haag (NL), Southend On Sea (UK) and Douai (FR))
- Creating new value chains and designing new products, amongst others by unlocking the full potential of ‘medium’ size actors (SME’s, offices, retail, schools, etc.)
- Deploy a mobile unit for testing, demonstration and sensitisation
- Create business activity and employment in the circular economy (100-400 jobs)
Financeurs
