Electron beam for plastics recycling – IAEA NUTEC Plastics initiative

The IAEA and its partners, under the NUTEC Plastics initiative, are researching and developing ionizing radiation techniques to affordably reprocess and recycle plastics. These techniques involve using electron beam to irradiate post-consumer plastics to enable them the be easily reformed and recycled into other products.

In a recent IAEA post, Najat Mokhtar, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, stated that there is now solid scientific evidence for the effectiveness and efficiency of this new recycling process and “Now is the time for engaging the private sector to scale up these efforts for the potential commercial market.”

A follow-up project under Phase 2 of NUTEC, launched in January 2024, focuses on moving the recycling technology beyond foundational research to small-scale prototypes, and eventually to large-scale prototype systems.

To read more about the NUTEC Plastics initiative please follow this link to the IAEA website.