Oxford spinout develops ‘atomic scissors’ for energy efficient chemical recycling

FOOD-GRADE plastics could be made from 100% recycled content, according to Oxford spinout Repolywise, which has developed a novel “atomic scissors” process to break down plastic waste.

The startup’s technology involves a hydrocracking process that selectively converts polyolefin plastics into propane, a feedstock for ethylene and propylene that is traditionally made from fossil-fuel sources.

Repolywise says its technology, which is designed to recycle plastic at an atomic level to help with its selectivity, has proved successful at lab-scale with 2 g batches of plastic waste.

Bryan Ng, CEO of Repolywise, said: “By transforming hard-to-recycle plastics into valuable raw materials, we’re not just reducing waste – we're enabling a circular economy that redefines how we produce and reuse plastics for a sustainable future.”

Circular plastics

The company says the atomic scissors process is more energy efficient than the chemical recycling process of pyrolysis, where plastics are broken down into pyrolysis oil that can be used as feedstock for plastic production.

It said: “The “atomic scissors” technology can bypass the 800°C steam-cracking step currently in the chemical recycling process to convert pyrolysis oil into plastic precursors.”

In its current lab conditions, Repolywise’s team has been able to degrade 100% of the waste plastic and convert 91% of produced carbon into plastic feedstock.

Using computational modelling, the team projects that it could reduce carbon emissions in the polypropylene production process by 66%.

Scaleup

Innovate UK awarded Repolywise £375,000 (US$488,000) in funding for further research and development to scale the atomic scissors technology.

The company is looking for further funding and engineering partners to speed up its expansion. It aims to increase the batch size of its process to 2 kg in the next development phase, and 2 t capacity at commercial scale.