
AIMPLAS, a non-profit research association based in Valencia, Spain, is working on a project with varnish and paint company Barpimo from La Rioja, Spain, to allow multilayer film using PET to be transformed into high added-value products, such as enamels, resins, and materials for the building sector, after use.
The project RESIPET is co-funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the FEDER funds within the National Programme for Research aimed at the Challenges of Society. Through research, Barpimo and AIMPLAS hope to develop a new economically profitable process that will allow these waste to be manufactured into thermosetting resins at an industrial level, with a low environmental impact.
The companies expect to create two types of different products: Alkyd resins to for the manufacture of enamels and coatings for materials such as metal and wood; and polyester resins that can be used in such exigent sectors as building or transport or as pipes or reinforced composites with glass fibre.