Sustainability and recycling have become more and more relevant within society. The public opinion is shifting more towards a world where recycled plastics becomes the norm to reduce the amount of plastic waste in our oceans and its impact on the environment. However, recycling plastic is not as easy as it sounds, and therefore much of our plastic waste is not usable for recycling. One of the main issues with recycled plastic material is the quality of the material. There are many different characteristics that influence this quality, for instance, the colour of the plastic waste or the amount of dirt within the plastic waste. If we want to increase the amount of recycled plastic, we should focus more on improving the overall quality of the material.

With this improvement, organisations are able to use the recycled material in more delicate applications such as packaging of food (this is currently really difficult to achieve due to many quality regulations). One possible solution for quality improvement can be achieved using advanced data analytics, which is something that the Di-Plast projects aims to do. This works in the following way:

The concept of circular economy (CE) is currently receiving encouraging attention among scholars and industrials, as a convenient solution to move away from the linear economy concept, without neglecting the goals of sustainable development. As main goals, the closing of resource loops and the keeping of resources in the system for as long as possible at the highest utility level, are mentioned as main goals of CE. Nevertheless, most companies still adopt a linear approach or just focus on providing information to the end-user to maximize their satisfaction during the use phase, while only a small amount have approached CE in a holistic way.

This gap between aiming to implement CE principles and apply them in a holistic manner is a widespread inconsistency. The VSM-tool, which is provided within the Di-Plast project, intervenes at this exact point, and can help YOU to get a clearer and more holistic view about your internal processes (micro-level) and if possible, about your supply-chain interdependencies (macro-level).

Currently, the method is tested and further developed within several companies in the Di-Plast pilot phase. If you are interested in joining the pilot-phase and apply the tool together with our experts within your company or within your supply-chain to increase the overreaching cooperability, feel free to contact us. Otherwise, you still have the chance to apply the finished tool during the Di-Plast uptake acceleration program.

Selected companies are given the opportunity to participate in the development of the Di-Plast Toolkit. The aim is to increase the proportion of recycled material in their products and to improve the quality of the process and product using digital tools. By joining these pilots, companies can directly influence the development of the tools in the co-creation process. This ensures that the functions are tailored to their needs. In addition, the pilots offer many other advantages for the companies:

There is still a huge gap between the goals of the European Union for plastic recycling in 2030 and the status quo today. One key chance for closing this gap is the application of digital technologies like data science to improve processes and information flows throughout the entire recyclate supply chain.

Di-Plast develops and applies digital tools to enable high value plastics recycling, i.e. bring recycled plastics to its highest application possible. Supported by Interreg North-West Europe, we aim to close the knowledge and information gaps which inhibits plastics recycling. We enable companies to achieve access to highly relevant yet mostly hidden data, parameters and analytics from and for their own production processes. To realise this, our toolkit combines a distinct set of tools:

1. VSM Tool: Value stream mapping to visualise and improve process-flows.
2. Sensoring Tool: a process problem / solution case library to support with the selection of suitable sensor-based quality control mechanisms.
3. Data Science Tools: This is a sub-toolkit of data science applications that creates, validates and extrapolates data:
   1. Data Validation Tool: Assesses data, gives insights in the variables and their data quality to increase the overall quality. Allows to prove stable processes and thus high quality recyclates to your customers.
   2. Exploratory Pattern Analytics Tool: Works on prepared/preprocessed tabular data. It provides explanatory patterns, i.e., simple rules between parameters (e.g., temperature, pressure) that are predictive for a certain target parameter (e.g., scrap rate). This helps to identify optimisation possibilities in your process through unveiling unrecognised correlations.
   3. Process Analytics Tool: Provides insights consisting of reports, visualisations and other analytical methods that describe the state of your processes and/or machinery. .Using this information, production processes with recyclates can be streamlined and output quality and quantity can potentially be increased.
   4. Machine Data Acquisition Tool: A wiki for selection of a data acquisition infrastructure based on your budget and technical expertise.
   5. Forecasting Tool: A system where information is combined to predict future quantities. This tool helps to create information of future supply of plastic recyclates and therefore enhance procurement and production planning.
4. Matrix Tool: The Matrix tool helps to find matches for recycled plastic suppliers and converters based on multiple given constraints

Currently, we are testing our toolkit with several companies and to validate their fit to industry’s needs. However, we are still looking for partners to test and apply these tools and for companies interested to learn about them in our uptake acceleration management.

All Di-Plast tools are developed as stand-alone tools that can be used independently from the other tools but also in combination. The following example shows one possible way of using the tools.

Start by getting an overview on your internal processes and information flows so that you can optimize them and make more out of your processes which include rPM or prepare your processes for rPM integration (VSM). The VSM tool helps to analyse, display and later optimize your cross-company product and information flows. It supports you in getting better knowledge about resource flows and localise bottlenecks either internally or withing your overall supply-chain.

Learn which sensors could help to get more information from your production (Sensoring) and learn how to get access to machine data that most likely is already there but not yet used (Machine Data Acquisition).

Now more in-depth work with your process data can start. Ideally you first use the Data Validation tool to assess data quality, gain insights in the variables and receive tricks how to increase your over all data quality. This might mean, that you go back to the Data Acquisition and the Sensoring tool but can also imply other steps.

Once your data quality is sufficient, we recommend using the Process Analytics Tool. It provides insights consisting of reports, visualizations and other analyses methods that describe the state of your processes and/or machinery. Errors in data found during the processing of specific materials can be automatically detected and made visible through reports and visualizations. This allows you to improve processes and their results. One module of this tool provides the opportunity to forecast future rPM quantities.

Our Matrix Tool can help you to find matching process and product requirements with material properties. Plastics users can find suitable recyclates for their applications here. The recycler, in turn, can offer its products (recyclates with specific material specification) or identify material specifications required by the market - and modify its recycling process to produce these materials. You will, therefore, gain a better understanding of the plastics recyclate market and opportunities, both as a user or supplier of rPM.

Do you see opportunities to increase the usage of plastic recyclates and do you want

financial support for this project?

1	I I	Select a voucher	see voucher description  below
2	I I	Check your eligibility	- Economically active in the North-West European Region? - Are you a Compounder, Converter, Recycler, Re-compounder, and Companies creating commercial polymer waste or a Trader? - You don’t exceed the De-minimis state aid limit (excluding corona support). The De-minimis regulation limits the support to EUR 200,000 in a three-year period For more information on De-minimis, please downlaod the info sheet on the right.	DOWNLOAD De-Minimis Info-Sheet
3	I I	Prepare the application	Prepare your application with the help of the application template (download link on the right)   This includes solely: General information on the applicant (company, person) and the field of work The estimated costs for the recyclates uptake activities. If you selected the chain voucher, please include 3 offers from your potential suppliers. A brief description of the planned activities and an estimation of direct and/or indirect increasment of plastic recyclate uptake through the voucher in the production chain. Your can find a detailed description of the application in our application guideline	DOWNLOAD Application Template   DOWNLOAD Application Guidline (updated 29.11.2021)
4	I I	Submit your application	Fill your information into the online application form (link on the right) and submit your application until 31st of July 2022.

The application will be evaluated by review criteria which you can find at the bottom of this page.

If you have been granted, we will provide you with all necessary documents for the documentation. Applicants will be notified within 6 weeks if the voucher can be granted.

Relevant documents after the approval:

Di-Plast Voucher Agreement

Di-Plast Voucher Pay-out Form

Download Flyer and Info-sheets

Di-Plast Voucher Flyer	Info-sheet German	Info-sheet Dutch

Three types of vouchers

Here you find sources with information and background about the Di-Plast Project.