Unlike high-volume commodity plastics such as the polyolefins used in packaging, specialty plastics often require recycling technologies tailored to their specific properties and applications. Achieving circularity for plastics from heterogeneous waste streams requires two things: scalable sorting processes and the right mix of recycling technologies. “There is not one single standard technology for recycling engineering plastics,” emphasized lead author Dr. Bernhard von Vacano, head of the Plastics Circularity Research Program at BASF. “Instead, it is crucial to have an intelligent mix of various complementary technologies adapted to particular plastic waste streams. Various paths for plastic recycling The most common technology is mechanical recycling, in which plastics are sorted, crushed and melted.