Dow and P&G partner on polyethylene recycling

Dow and Procter & Gamble plan to jointly develop a polyethylene recycling process that uses solvents to dissolve the polymer so contaminants can be easily separated. The result is a polymer that is as pure as virgin resin but requires less energy to produce, the firms say. P&G previously developed a dissolution process for polypropylene. PureCycle Technologies licensed that technology and installed it in a facility that opened last year in Ironton, Ohio. Dow and P&G, which intend to pool their dissolution intellectual property, are targeting hard-to-recycle plastic waste streams such as multilayer packaging.