• How is the delamination process working?

The idea of the supercritical treatment is to focus on the dissolution of the glues and bondings at the interface of materials. CO₂ ensures a very good diffusion and permeability through the different layers, and carries the co-solvents which dissolve the glues. The main interest in using supercritical conditions are the diffusivity and reactivity, ensuring a fast and homogeneous process.

• Where do materials go after delamination?

The interest of the IDELAM process is to allow the non-destructive separation of the different materials of a waste in order to allow its reuse or recycling. Éric DURIVAULT's extensive experience in the field of recycling and waste treatment enables to anticipate this issue upstream during the test/development phase of the project. By knowing the delaminated materials and their properties, it is thus possible during the project stage to directly foresee the appropriate channels for reuse, recycling or recovery. IDELAM therefore actively exchanges with marketers, recyclers, sorting centres and producers in order to find the best solutions for downstream channels for delaminated materials.

• Do treated wastes require to be pre-treated, washed or dried prior to delamination?

Among all the products tested to date, it has never been necessary to include a pre-treatment, washing or drying step before delamination.

• Does the process impact the properties of the delaminated materials?

This is a key issue for the prospects of reuse and recycling of materials, which we continue to study in detail. To date, we know some of the materials that remain unchanged after treatment, and others that are largely weathered. However, it is not possible to generalize, so we always try to have in-depth discussions with the technical department of the producers or marketers to determine the technical characteristics required after delamination to allow the reuse/recycling of the materials, and to adapt the process parameters in this sense if necessary.

• How do you ensure the recovery/reuse of solvents?

The main solvent used in the process is CO₂, which is already widely used in industry, and there are very efficient filtration/separation systems to enable 99% reuse of this solvent. For the other co-solvents used, the question of reuse is important but depends mostly on the treated waste. Indeed, depending on the products being delaminated, the composition of the co-solvents may vary, as may their interactions with the materials and the possible need to purify/filter the solvents before reuse. These issues are systematically investigated during the testing of new products.