An EU-backed body that brings together countries bordering on the north Atlantic has funded work that would see ocean-born plastic waste collected and converted into hydrogen.
Led by four Atlantic countries – Portugal, Spain, France and Ireland – the Interreg Atlantic Area announced grants for 27 projects with aims including decarbonization and digitalisation of Atlantic ports and enhancing carbon sequestration in the Atlantic.
The group says the circular economy is “highly relevant” in the area and there is a “deep concern” both for the accumulation of plastics and for the capacity to recycle and reuse materials.
It has agreed €1.9 million of funding through the European Regional Development Fund for a project on “plastic circularity through an efficient detection, collection, and valorization into hydrogen and value-added products
Alister Future Technologies, an Irish subsidiary of Hydrogen Utopia International PLC, a company that turns non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into hydrogen will work to try to create value from the plastic waste by processing it into syngas and hydrogen.
The Atlantic Area group also funded efforts to boost the hydrogen transition in the region’s ports.