Beril Yesilirmak

Vanden Recycling, United Kingdom

Title: Decoding Recycled Plastics: From Complexity to Clarity

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Biography

Beril Baykal Yesilirmak is the Global Technical Director at Vanden Recycling with over 15 years of experience in plastics, polymer testing, and recycled materials quality management. She specialises in translating complex material science into practical, scalable solutions for global recycling supply chains and works closely with academic and industrial partners to advance circular economy innovation.

Abstract

The increasing demand for recycled plastics in high value applications such as packaging, automotive, and electronics has exposed a critical challenge: material quality variability driven by complex global supply chains. Recycled plastics exhibit significant heterogeneity arising from differences in product design, polymer formulations, additives, manufacturing processes, disposal behaviour, and collection systems. These factors, influenced by geography, culture, infrastructure, seasonality, and regulation, result in thousands of potential material variations that are often indistinguishable through visual inspection or labelling alone.

This work presents an applied, data driven framework for decoding recycled plastics and transforming uncertainty into material clarity. The approach integrates on-the-ground grading methodologies, systematic polymer identification, and advanced laboratory testing, including near-infrared spectroscopy, FTIR analysis, density separation, melt flow index evaluation, and heat ageing tests. Field based tools are combined with laboratory verification and real world processing trials to ensure that material characterisation reflects actual production conditions.

Industrial case studies demonstrate the limitations of conventional identification methods and the effectiveness of enhanced testing protocols. These findings highlight how minor methodological refinements can significantly reduce contamination risks, prevent processing failures, and protect recycled material value. The study concludes that robust, standardised testing frameworks are essential to enable consistent quality in recycled plastics and support high-value circular supply chains.