Clariter’s holistic approach to circularity
It’s no secret that today’s industry operates on a linear resource consumption model, which can be briefly described by: “buy, use and throw away.” An analysis of international data on resource consumption, waste production, and end-of-life management estimated[1] that only 9.1% of the global economy is circular. This means that approximately 90.9% of waste is not being reused, creating a massive circular gap.
Increased awareness of the risks of pollution makes it clear that this model needs to change. The linear consumption-based economy must be replaced by a model built on resource renewal. This model requires systemic changes in the design and manufacture of products, extraction of raw materials, consumer habits, and the law.
A circular economy means that raw materials and products remain in circulation for as long as possible and that their value should be maximized. As a result, we will extract fewer natural resources, produce less waste, and reuse the waste that we already produced.
Clariter goes one step further by taking waste no one wants and transforming it into products everybody needs. While the industry is turning plastic waste into new plastic, fuels, or intermediates that require further processing and blending, Clariter’s unique process transforms most plastic waste streams, even those with the lowest value and those hard to recycle, into pure, ready-to-use industrial products. This solution is preferable to landfilling, incineration, and other pyrolysis-based solutions. Clariter’s pioneering technology bridges the world of recycling and the petrochemical industry by replacing crude oil with plastic waste, thus saving significant amounts ofCO₂.
With a unique technology transforming most plastic waste streams into new, crude oil-free products, Clariter is the next generation in the recycling and petrochemical industry. Its patented process consists of three stages. The first phase is thermal cracking. Then, hydro-refining removes all double bonds and produces a sulphur-free and non-aromatic material. Lastly, distillation and purification create three product families: aliphatic solvents, white mineral oils, and paraffinic snow-white waxes. These are the world’s first.
In addition to “traditional plastic waste”, Clariter has already successfully upcycled plastics, among others, such as marine waste (e.g., fishnets and ropes), BOPP laminates, and ultra-high molecular weight polymers used for bulletproof vests and helmets. These are raw materials that cannot be mechanically recycled due to their structure or because it is not economically viable to recycle them mechanically. These plastics are incinerated, landfilled, or sadly end up in the oceans.
Clariter’s technology utilizes unwanted and problematic plastic waste streams to create green products for the industry, leaving a cleaner planet. This is a radical paradigm shift in the recycling and petrochemical industries. In the end, Clariter’s oils, waxes, and solvents can be used as drop-in ingredients for more than a thousand consumer end-products, e.g., paints, coating, leather care creams, wood care articles, and even cosmetics.
Clariter unlocks the value of the circular economy without compromising on profitability or sustainability.
Clariter’s short-term plan is to build and operate full-scale plants in Israel, Poland, and the Netherlands. Each plant will recycle 60,000 tons of plastic waste and produce 50,000 tons of clean products annually.
This is an opinion article written by Clariter.
[1] Circle Economy’s Circularity Gap Report [2018]