Takeout food is everywhere in modern life, greatly facilitating our lives but also generating a large amount of waste meal boxes, making people concerned about where these boxes go after use, whether they become garbage or cause plastic pollution. Thus, scientists from Donghua University are putting forward a creative proposal with the support of Meituan Green Tech Fund to process and transform the waste meal boxes to produce ultrafine polypropylene fibers, which are then used to make fast-drying fabrics and T-shirts.
(Low-carbon polypropylene fabric T-shirt)
On the afternoon of December 6, a conference jointly organized by Donghua University’s Center for Advanced Low-Dimensional Materials, State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, and Meituan Green Tech Fund was held at the Songjiang Campus of Donghua University to launch the results. A total of around 100 people participated in the event, including Tian Jin, Project Director of Meituan Green Tech Fund; Wang Yonggang, Secretary-General of China Plastic Recycling Association of CRRA; Fang Weimin, Vice President of Management System Services for TÜV Rheinland Greater China; Jiang Yanhui, Senior Vice President of Handa Industrials (Wuxi); industry leaders from various enterprises, as well as Zhao Zhen, Vice President of Donghua University; Li Bin, Senior Researcher at the “Carbon Neutralization of Polymer Materials” platform of the Center for Advanced Low-Dimensional Materials and head of the project team, along with the team members and leaders and student representatives from research institutes, publicity department, State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, and the Center for Advanced Low-Dimensional Materials; journalists from 24 media outlets such as Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily, and China.com.cn, as well as representatives from food delivery platforms, plastic recycling companies, fabric processing enterprises, designers, and brands.
Industry statistics indicate that more than 1 million tonnes of takeaway meal boxes are consumed annually, and they are currently recycled and used mainly for some low-end applications. The enhanced value for application of recycled meal box materials can greatly increase the recycling rate of waste meal boxes. The project team has invited partners from the industry chain, including GEM, Modern High-Tech Fiber, Li Ning, and Kingfisher (British), to collaborate on the development. Through relentless efforts from multiple parties, the technical challenges in multiple steps, such as impurity removal, deodorization, spinning, and fabric production, have been successfully resolved. The team has established a “recycled meal box - slicing - granulation - drawing - weaving – clothing” technical route, enabling the circular utilization from takeout meal boxes to fast-drying T-shirts. According to third-party carbon accounting, “the carbon reduction can reach 73%, demonstrating a significant reduction in carbon emissions compared to virgin materials”. Polypropylene fabrics made from recycled meal box materials possess inherent low-carbon attributes and are expected to become sustainable textile materials alongside recycled polyester, winning acclaim from designers and brands.
The Center for Advanced Low-Dimensional Materials, committed to take further scientific and organizational innovations, adheres to four directions with the research focus of “advanced low-dimensional materials”. They have established research platforms in areas such as “polymer structure and dynamics, precision chemical synthesis, hybrid functional materials, intelligent organic optoelectronics, and special polymer materials”. While advancing systematic research and development to address key scientific and engineering problems, they are also seizing opportunities such as the national dual carbon strategy and corresponding innovation action plans of the Ministry of Education. In 2022, they established the “Carbon Neutralization of Polymer Materials” research platform to focus on researching and applying key low-carbon technologies of polymer materials throughout the entire production, processing, use, and recycling processes. It has provided technical support and innovative solutions for the industry to achieve the goals of “carbon peaking” and “carbon neutrality”, making significant contribution to the dual-carbon goal with the wisdom from Donghua University.
