Page 37 - Plastics News May 2026

COMPANY NEWS

E88% ‘HARD-TO-RECYCLE’ PLASTIC: POLYCYCL’S
BET ON TURNING WASTE INTO VALUE

s India tightens enforcement of Extended Pro- PolyCycl’s technology is designed to treat these PE- and
ducer Responsibility (EPR) norms and grapples PP-rich waste streams and convert them into circular feed-
Awith mounting plastic waste, technologies capa- stock through controlled molecular recycling. The plastics
ble of processing so-called “hard-to-recycle” materials are are thermally broken down and liquified into hydrocarbon
coming into sharper focus. PolyCycl, a Chandigarh-based oils, which are then purified through proprietary multi-stage
circular economy technology startup, is positioning itself treatment. The resulting oils meet petrochemical specifica-
as a solution provider for low-value, flexible plastic waste tions required to produce new, low-carbon circular poly-
streams that often escape conventional recycling systems. mers, which have properties identical to conventional poly-
Founded in 2016, the company has developed a patented mers made from fossil crude.
chemical recycling technology that converts hard-to-recy-
cle plastics such as single-use polythene bags, flexible pol- Another part of the challenge arises from multilayer lami-
yolefin packaging films and food-contaminated items into nates where multiple materials are combined. As brand
liquefied hydrocarbon oils. These oils serve as high-value owners shift these structures toward mono-material for-
circular feedstocks for producing new low-carbon plas- mats, they become suitable feedstock for chemical recy-
tics, renewable chemicals and sustainable fuels, effectively cling. Addressing the problem at scale will therefore require
transforming waste into usable raw materials. By break- both better packaging design and downstream technolo-
ing down complex plastic waste into its molecular building gies capable of processing contaminated and mixed plas-
blocks, the technology enables plastic-to-plastic circularity, tics that would otherwise end up in landfills or incineration.
allowing such materials to be converted into new polymers
with properties identical to those derived from fossil fuels. ET: In your view, why has India’s recycling eco-
In an interaction with ET Online at an expo in Delhi, Amit system struggled despite EPR mandates? AT:
Tandon, Founder and CEO of PolyCycl, explains how the
technology works, the structural gaps in India’s recycling Several structural and regulatory gaps continue to limit the
ecosystem, and what stricter EPR enforcement could mean effectiveness of India’s EPR framework for plastic pack-
for brands and the broader plastics value chain. aging. Compliance and data reliability remain weak, with
only 22% of producers, importers and brand owners and
ET: Punjab’s latest PPCB audit flagged that plastic waste processors filing annual reports as per latest
88% of plastic waste is “hard to recycle.” official data. Audits have also revealed significant discrep-
ancies between declared and actual recycling capacities,
Can your technology address this? with some entities generating certificates far exceeding
their real processing ability.At the same time, the system
Amit Tandon (AT): A major portion of what the PPCB iden- has increasingly become certificate-driven rather than
tifies as “hard to recycle” is actually polyethylene (PE) and recycling-driven. Oversupply of certificates and instances
polypropylene (PP) packaging—the materials most widely of fraud allow obligations to be met on paper without im-
used in everyday consumer goods. This includes single-use proving actual waste collection or recycling outcomes. The
items such as flexible grocery bags, milk and detergent absence of clearly defined penalties has further weakened
pouches, thin carry bags, protective wraps, disposable enforcement.
tubs and other low-value or soiled flexible plastics that cur-
rent mechanical recycling systems are unable to process India’s waste stream itself adds to the challenge. A large
efficiently. share consists of flexible and multilayered plastics that are
difficult to recycle mechanically, making a shift toward mo-

May 2026 PLASTICS NEWS 39