The circular economy has become a priority policy topic in Europe and is a key objective of the European Green Deal. There is increasing interest in the potential for altering traditional business models to enable materials and products to be reused and remain in the economy for as long as possible — as opposed to being used once and then discarded.
To implement and upscale circular business models, the following elements are required:
- Circular goals, such as reuse, repair and recycle, need to be agreed on by policymakers.
- New business models need to be developed through innovation by companies. This is called business model innovation.
- Technical and/or social innovation in companies and society need to go hand in hand with business model innovation.
The topic of plastic recycling and the circular economy has become part of the public debate: the urgency to discuss the issue goes together with the worsening of the planet’s conditions. Hence the need to find concrete solutions to stem the pollution problem.
Responsiveness, proactiveness and desire for change: these are the keywords to better orient the plans that aim to improve the conditions of our planet.
Following this logic, the project promoted and implemented by Ochi has developed an innovative system for the recycling and reuse of polycarbonate from disused electricity meters that cannot be reused thanks to a new and unique process.
The research and development carried out by Ochi, in collaboration with the raw material and the compounding Suppliers, has a unique and innovative technology that is well suited to this new context, in which identifying new methods to recycle better and in greater quantities is the absolute priority.
In fact, the final aim is to recover, recycle and reuse the post-consumer polycarbonate obtained from disused electricity meters that cannot be reused.
This technology selects polycarbonate-based materials. The processing takes place with mechanical recycling, which produces easily workable plastic flakes. This manufacturing process makes it possible to enhance a very high percentage of polycarbonates, so much so as to make this system unique.
The last step is the refining of this raw ground plastic through an extrusion with the addition of specific additives to suit the needs of end customers.
Recycled polycarbonate is already used for the moulding of new electricity meters, making a real sustainable circular economy.
