Large-scale pilot plant opened
The CreaSolv® demonstration plant at Fraunhofer IVV has been officially opened. The plant processes post-consumer PVC flooring waste at technical scale and implements the complete process chain developed within the Circular Flooring project.
The CreaSolv® demonstration plant at Fraunhofer IVV, Freising (©Fraunhofer IVV).
After the construction phase, which was reported in earlier news articles, the plant has now passed its commissioning phase and is operated batch-wise for pilot trials. With a capacity of 15-20 kg/h, the plant demonstrates that the CreaSolv® Recycling Process works at technical scale: waste floor coverings are shredded, dissolved, filtered and separated into clean PVC recyclate and a plasticiser fraction that is further treated by catalytic hydrogenation.
The PVC recyclate produced in the plant is used by the project partners from the flooring industry to manufacture new floor coverings. This marks the closing of the loop – from old flooring waste back to new products.
We thank the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme for funding the plant.