Provided is a method of efficiently removing an ink layer. The method of removing an ink layer from a shrink sleeve label includes preheating the shrink sleeve label including the ink layer, shredding the shrink sleeve label after the preheating to fabricate shrink sleeve label pieces , and removing the ink layer from the shrink sleeve label pieces by alkaline desorption. A temperature of the preheating is the same as a temperature of the alkaline desorption or higher than the temperature of the alkaline desorption.

In a method for reprocessing plastic waste material, in embodiments PET waste material, the plastic waste material is dried by a flash dryer in a conveying line and then fed into a multi-shaft screw machine. In the multi-shaft screw machine, the dried plastic waste material is reprocessed. Pre-drying enables simple, energy-efficient, economical, reliable and effective reprocessing.

Processes and facilities for using one or more PET-containing materials as a feedstock to a chemical recycling facility, and in particular a solvolysis facility, are provided herein. The PET-containing materials used as feedstock may comprise a quantity of PET-containing dry fines. The PET-containing dry fines may be derived from various processes and facilities, including PET reclaimer facilities and/or manufacturers of PET articles. For example, the dry fines may be collected from solid-liquid separators and/or dust collectors from processes that include conveying, drying, densification, centrifugation processes, and/or grinding PET-containing plastic material. Such dry fines are generally undesirable or unusable to mechanical PET recycling facilities, and typically are sent to landfills and/or incinerators. However, the processes and facilities described herein make use of the PET and other plastics present in these otherwise undesirable or unusable dry fines.

Systems and methods for sequestering carbon dioxide from the environment using biopolymers are disclosed. The methods include forming consumer products using bioplastics or biopolymers, collecting said consumer products after consumer use and stopping biodegradation of said biopolymer. In some embodiments the biopolymer is a non-biodegradable biopolymer while in other embodiments the degradation of the biopolymer is stopped by alternative means. A tracking system of the fate of the bioplastic or biopolymer during the lifecycle of the product is described.

Sometimes, a problem is obvious, everyone sees it, but nothing happens until someone decides to do something useful about it. Methods are herein provided for recovering heavy hydrocarbons from plastic materials and/or geo-formation. In one solution set, PVC waste materials are emulsified by an amine solvent in an aqueous phase, thereby extracting heavier hydrocarbons from the primary structure of PVC into the amine aqueous phase; followed by de-emulsifying the extracted heavier hydrocarbons by separating and recovering the amine solvent, and then separating the de-emulsified heavier hydrocarbons from the aqueous phase by a hydrophobic membrane.

Provided are carbon fibers rich in surface functional groups, which has been recovered by thermolysis and anodization of a carbon-fiber-reinforced composite material. Also provided is a carbon-fiber-reinforced resin composition characterized by having excellent mechanical characteristics and an excellent surface appearance at a low cost as a result of using said carbon fibers.

A build material recovery system for a three-dimensional (3D) printer can include a selective solidification device to create a 3D object using build material, a build processing device to separate the 3D object from unfused build material, a material separating and conditioning device to condition the unfused build material, and a material storage device to store the conditioned build material.

A process for the extraction of one or more colour pigments from waste plastic in which a waste plastic feedstock is mixed with a solvent in a reactor having a shearing mechanism and the solvent is separated out and recycled in the process. The shearing mechanism provides high shear, high contact mixing so as to move the pigment to the surface of the plastic for contact with the solvent to give efficient colour pigment removal. Embodiments of reactors with shearing mechanisms are described. Environmentally friendly solvents are also described. The process gives highly sought after natural recyclate at a commercial scale.

The invention comprises methods of robotically separating unwanted heteroatom-containing materials from a plastic mixture and catalytically pyrolyzing the resulting mixed plastics to obtain olefins and aromatics. Systems and compositions useful in the catalytic pyrolysis of plastics are also described.

A build material recovery system for a three-dimensional (3D) printer can include a selective solidification device to create a 3D object using build material, a build processing device to separate the 3D object from unfused build material, a material separating and conditioning device to condition the unfused build material, and a material storage device to store the conditioned build material.