Start-up ReVentas has been awarded a £3.5m grant from Scottish Enterprise (Scotland’s national economic development agency) to fund the development of its solvent-based recycling technology over the next three years, particularly focusing on hard to recycle plastics including food packaging films.
Awarded as part of a £9m project, the funding aims to help ReVentas further develop its proprietary recycling technology, with hard to recycle plastics expected to become an increasing priority for councils from 2028 onwards, as requirements to collect and process films expand across the UK.
According to Scottish Enterprise, ReVentas’ technology utilizes a chemical solvent to dissolve waste plastics, filtering out contaminants including colour and odour and producing a ‘natural, virgin-like’ polymer that can be used directly in applications such as packaging and consumer and automotive products. The technology is said to operate at low temperatures and pressures, reducing carbon footprint and process cost.
ReVentas seeks to move closer to commercial deployment through the support of Scottish Enterprise, expanding its pilot plant facility in Livingston to handle more complex plastic waste streams. The company recently signed an engineering and licensing alliance agreement with KBR to support the global roll out of the technology.
Nicola Anderson, director of Scaling Innovation at Scottish Enterprise, said: “ReVentas is developing pioneering recycling technology that has the potential to transform how valuable materials are recovered and reused, supporting Scotland’s transition to a more sustainable, circular economy. By turning cutting-edge innovation into commercial opportunity, the company is creating high-quality green jobs, attracting investment and strengthening Scotland’s position as a leader in clean technologies.”
Earlier this year, PureCycle Technologies revealed plans to build a polypropylene dissolution recycling facility in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, targeting an annual production capacity of 59,000 tonnes. The move is part of a €40 million grant agreement with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA)’s Innovation Fund, with the project set to contribute to the European Green Deal’s decarbonizing and circularity objectives, as well as the Circular Economy Action Plan and the Green Industrial Deal.
In May, Traceless announced its first industrial production facility for its bio-based, home-compostable natural polymer technology, aiming to end dependence on fossil raw materials and build a circular bioeconomy in Europe. At the facility in Hamburg, Germany, plant-based residues from the agricultural industry will be processed into a material that can be used as a natural plastic substitute.
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