Italian technology plast / October 2025 |
: The team and founders of Re4real: Davide Conte and Simone Di Trapani( standing from left) and Luciano Galantini( seated on the right)
A project focusing completely on the chemical recycling of plastics. RePET srl is a start-up that has become better known in the sector by its brand name Re4real – Real Plastic Recycling. This is because the name reflects the founders’ ultimate goal, pursued through their patented technology, namely to break down plastic material into its basic components( monomers), enabling them to be reused and recycled an infinite number of times without any loss of raw material quality or performance.
THE INCEPTION The basic idea of the founding partners, Davide Conte and Simone Di Trapani, coming from the academic world of computational chemistry, and Luciano Galantini, full professor of physical chemistry at La Sapienza University, is to introduce to
the market a recycling technology that no longer leads to the downgrading of the material as it happens today, but keeps the properties of recycled plastics unchanged thanks to a bio-based chemical treatment. All this with an important benefit on top, that is, making recycling possible for a practically unlimited number of times and the subsequent reuse of the material without adding virgin resin. The process developed by Re4real meets sustainability requirements in terms of energy consumption even on an industrial scale. Initially developed with polyesters in mind, it could also be applied to polycarbonates and polyurethanes.
THE PROCESS In fact, the solution proposed is a chemical depolymerisation process capable of returning plastics to
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their primary components, making it possible to reconstitute the original material preserving the same properties as the virgin material. This chemical technology is based on a new class of catalysts of bioorganic origin that promote depolymerisation at ambient temperature and pressure, thus significantly lowering the activation energy necessary for polymer splitting – exactly like enzymes are able to do when promoting chemical processes under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. The materials themselves used in the process do not involve the use of toxic substances and are by their nature biodegradable. In the case of PET, for example, the precursors are terephthalic acid( TA) and ethylene glycol( EG). The bio-organic catalyst of Re4real is made up of molecules that activate the depolymerisation process inside an alcoholic matrix so that it is possible to separate the two precursors from other substances such as additives, colourants and plasticisers. This means, for example, that even dark PET grades can be recycled using the Re4real technology. This technology could also be used in the recycling of polylaminates, another type of plastic packaging that cannot be recovered using mechanical methods. It can also be introduced downstream of a mechanical recycling process in the case that the flakes are no longer reusable.
THE POTENTIAL OF DEPOLYMERISA- TION AND FUTURE PLANS End-of-life plastics waste can be recycled into various applications or sent to the depolymerisation process.
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The effect of the bio-organic catalyst developed for the Re4real depolymerisation process
Speaking of materials, as mentioned, this technology can be applied to polyesters, polylaminates, polycarbonates and polyurethanes. In addition to packaging, the industrial sectors that might enjoy significant benefits include the textile and fashion industry because depolymerisation also makes it possible to separate the plastic component of fabrics from cotton. To date, the Re4real depolymerisation process has been developed into a full-fledged technology. The next steps which the start-up is already working on, are the re-polymerisation of plastics starting from monomers and the scalability of the depolymerisation process. Small and medium-sized prototypes are already being built, designed to perform the function of Minimum Viable Product( MVP) for large producers and waste management companies operating on the market.
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