The GCR Group has announced the recent opening of a R&D centre in Tarragona, Spain.
The overall company investment is expected to reach Euros 100 million by 2025.
The new 2000m2 Innovation Hub includes all the equipment necessary for incubation and proof of concept from development to pilot plant and final production.
GCR’s Existing collaborations involve technical institutions, equipment suppliers, raw material and waste-stream suppliers, plastic converters and brand owners.
GCR's product, CICLIC R-polyolefins (Recycled polyolefins) are sustainable and from recycled materials. The company say they can deliver similar and consistent material properties as virgin plastics with 60-80% lower Carbon Footprint certification.
GCR also claims that GRANIC, mineral-filled masterbatches and compounds can offer up to a 30% reduction in energy costs in downstream polymer processing.
The Innovation Hub enables customisation of products and brings solutions to the challenges encountered when using post-consumer or post-industrial waste or carbon footprint/LCA improvement. GCR claim they can enhance the value of waste streams through, for example, compatibilizers or capturing/blocking odour-producing bacteria. In addition, it has developed bio-polymer-based and biodegradable solutions.
Santiago Sans, Innovation Director at GCR said: “We firmly believe that we have the capability, agility and vision to accelerate the circular economy. Through this investment, we demonstrate our belief in collaboration with like-minded partners in the value chain.”