As accumulating plastic waste continues to threaten human health and life under water, experts and decision-makers in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have sought innovative, upstream solutions to reduce plastic waste and are now benefitting from IAEA support through the NUclear TEChnology for Controlling Plastic Pollution (NUTEC Plastics) initiative.
NUTEC Plastics takes a two-pronged approach, channelling support towards both marine monitoring of microplastics such as recently in the Antarctic, and plastic recycling and upcycling initiatives to reduce plastic waste. The upstream component supports the development of innovative technologies using nuclear irradiation to transform plastic waste and biomass into high-performance, value-added products. It primarily targets hard-to-recycle plastics and the development of bio-based plastics, offering sustainable alternatives to conventional plastic products and paving the way for a circular economy.
Since the launch of NUTEC Plastics in 2020, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have been at the forefront of NUTEC's research component, which aims to demonstrate the feasibility of using nuclear irradiation to recycle plastic waste.
To help accelerate the development and adoption of the recycling technology, the IAEA has implemented a series of regional technical cooperation (TC) projects1/ which have facilitated new partnerships between the national nuclear institutions of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines and counterparts in the private sector.
A series of national stakeholder meetings organized through these projects between 2022 and 20242/ enabled countries' experts to contact domestic companies working in polymer recycling. In 2024, those contacts matured into formal partnerships which are developing prototype recycling facilities that will eventually be scaled up for commercial operations.
Indonesia: Forging new public-private ties
Following participation in IAEA meetings, the wood-plastic composites producer PT Viro formally entered into partnership in June 2024 with Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), a cabinet-level agency that coordinates all national research.
In Indonesia's polymers industry, chemical crosslinking has traditionally been used to manufacture polyethylene (PE). However, ionizing radiation-induced crosslinking can produce improved plastic products without the need for high temperatures and pressure, and without toxic chemical residues.
The collaboration between BRIN and PT Viro aims to introduce radiation technology into the manufacturing process for wood plastic composites using recycled plastics. The team at BRIN is responsible for developing the new technology with IAEA support, while PT Viro is providing the materials, conducting stress tests and planning for large-scale production.
"This collaboration revolves around the NUTEC Plastics project, focusing on upcycling to add value to the final product," explained Tita Puspitasari, head of BRIN's Radioisotope, Radiopharmaceutical and Biodosimetry Technology Research Center. "I hope this partnership will run smoothly and lead to the successful transfer of technology to the industry, helping to solve the global plastic waste problem."
Malaysia: Targeting common plastics for enhanced upcycling
Among the most common plastics are polyethylene polymers-used to produce plastic bags and other disposable packaging-and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) products.
As part of its efforts to reduce plastic pollution, the Malaysian Nuclear Agency has entered into partnership with two private companies, HDD Technology and Alam Flora Environmental Solutions, to improve upstream recycling and the transformation of PTFE and PE products.
HDD Technology will provide a steady supply of PTFE waste and prepare it for processing. The Malaysian Nuclear Agency will oversee the irradiation process, using electron beam energy to transform the PTFE waste into plastic micropowder, an industrial additive that is used to enhance the chemical resistance and lubricity of oils, paints and more. Preliminary exercises have already demonstrated the scalability of this process, and plans are in place for developing a laboratory prototype to help validate the pilot-scale production of PTFE micropowder.
"Collaborating with industry partners helps to guide market-driven or needs-based research," said Teo Ming Ting, a research scientist in the Radiation Processing Technology Division of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency. "This collaboration facilitates access to the right materials sources, optimizes resource utilization, and enables early-stage testing of laboratory products to meet industry requirements."
Similarly, in its collaboration with Alam Flora Environmental Solutions-formalized in January 2024-the Malaysian Nuclear Agency is using electron beam and gamma irradiation to degrade PE plastics provided by the private firm to manufacture pyrolysis oil, which can substitute industrial fuels such as furnace oil. This collaboration has already yielded promising results, with a proof of concept for the recycling and production process expected by the end of 2024.
The Philippines: Building homes with plastic waste
A unique combination of rapid population growth, urbanization and a shortage of available real estate has produced an acute housing crisis in the Philippines, whose population of nearly 110 million faces a shortage of approximately 6.5 million homes, projected to rise to 22 million by 2040.
Following a national stakeholder meeting organized through the ongoing IAEA project in 2023, the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) and Envirotech Waste Recycling Inc. formed a partnership in July 2023 that aims to address both the country's housing crisis and its plastic waste problem.
Construction materials made from recycled plastic-including tiles, bricks, lumber and boards-are being provided by Envirotech for irradiation by PNRI experts to improve their tensile and sheer strength, abrasion resistance and other mechanical properties.
These efforts correspond closely to the objectives of the Philippines' Post-radiation Reactive Extrusion of Plastic Wastes (PREx Plastic) Project, a national development plan supported by the NUTEC Plastics initiative that aims to use radiation to enhance the thermomechanical strength of materials produced from plastic wastes, which would enable more uses for recycled plastics.
The collaboration between PNRI and Envirotech Waste Recycling Inc. uses the company's facility for upscaling experiments. "This enables the investigation and translation of lab-scale findings to real manufacturing setups," said Jordan Madrid, Head of PNRI's Chemistry Research Section.
"Through industry collaboration, the objectives of applied research are more precisely targeted, thereby enhancing its industrial relevance and, as a result, its national impact," Madrid added.
