SPE COURSE: Additives for Plastics Recycling

  Workshop

Additives for Plastics Recycling

  May 4, 2026
  2:00 to 3:00 PM ET.
  Online

Additives for Plastics Recycling

  Summary

As plastics recycling scales, additives are increasingly essential to maintain performance and processability. In this class, we explore how stabilizers, compatibilizers, and chain extenders are used to address degradation, contamination, and mixed-polymer streams. We will show examples of how additives can be used to address real-world recycling challenges, including property recovery, odor mitigation, and compliance with regulatory and food-contact requirements.

 

If you can't attend one or several sessions live, or if you want to review some concepts, the recordings will be available after each session.

  Who Should Attend?

This course is designed for professionals involved in plastics recycling, sustainability initiatives, and circular materials development, including:

  • Recycling and sustainability engineers
  • Materials, polymer, and R&D engineers
  • Compounders and processing engineers
  • Quality, regulatory, and compliance teams
  • Brand owners and product developers working with recycled content
  • Additive suppliers, application engineers, and technical sales professionals
  • Students and early‑career engineers seeking practical knowledge of additives used in plastics recycling

  Why Should You Attend?

As plastics recycling scales, maintaining material performance becomes one of the industry’s greatest challenges. Mechanical recycling introduces degradation, contamination, odor, and variability that cannot be solved by processing alone.

This course explains how additives enable recycled plastics to meet:

  • Performance requirements
  • Processability targets
  • Regulatory and food‑contact compliance

It bridges the gap between sustainability goals and real‑world manufacturing demands.

  Everyday Problems You’ll Address

  • Why do recycled plastics lose strength, toughness, or color after multiple recycling cycles?
  • How can degradation caused by heat, shear, and oxygen be managed?
  • How do mixed‑polymer streams and contamination reduce performance?
  • What causes persistent odor issues in recycled materials, and how can they be mitigated?
  • How can recycled plastics meet regulatory and food‑contact requirements while balancing cost and performance?

  What You’ll Learn

You will learn:

  • Mechanisms of polymer degradation in recycled plastics
  • How stabilizers protect materials during reprocessing
  • How compatibilizers improve performance in mixed and contaminated polymer streams
  • How chain extenders restore molecular weight and processability
  • Additive strategies for odor mitigation and aesthetic improvement
  • Real‑world examples of additive solutions used in plastics recycling
  • Key considerations for regulatory and food‑contact compliance

  Why This Course Matters

The success of plastics recycling depends on producing materials that are consistent, high‑performing, and compliant with regulations. Additives are essential enablers of circular plastics.

This course matters because it:

  • Helps close the performance gap between recycled and virgin materials
  • Enables higher‑value applications for recycled plastics
  • Improves reliability and market acceptance of recycled materials
  • Reduces regulatory and compliance risk
  • Supports technically viable, economically sustainable, and scalable recycling systems

  Registration Information

SPE Premium MemberFREE
SPE Members$49
SPE Student Members$25
(Student but not a student member? Join SPE for free to get program discounts!)
Nonmembers$249

  Workshop Packs

Strengthen your team’s skills and take advantage of group savings with an SPE Workshop Pack.
Go here for Workshop Pack information and registration.

 
1 Session
 
Level: Intermediate
 
Total Hours: 1 Hour
 
Streaming access on desktop and mobile browsers

  Instructor

Nicole Zacharia, Ph.D.
Program Director, Online Engineering Programs in Polymers
University of Wisconsin - Madison
  LinkedIn

Dr. Zacharia was trained as a materials scientist (MIT) focusing in bio and polymeric materials, followed by a postdoc at the University of Toronto. She was faculty at Texas A&M University in mechanical engineering and then at the University of Akron in Polymer Engineering. Since 2019 she has been at the University of Wisconsin Madison, where she is the Program Director for online engineering programs in polymers. 

  Questions? Contact:

For questions, contact Iván D. López.

This educational program is provided as a service of SPE. The views and opinions expressed on this or any SPE educational program are those of the Speaker(s) and/or the persons appearing with the Speaker(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc. (SPE) or its officials, employees or designees. To comment or to present an opposing or supporting opinion, please contact us at info@4SPE.org.

Refund Policy

Full refund 30 days prior to the event start date. Please contact customerrelations@4spe.org for assistance with registration.

Copyright & Permission to Use

SPE may take photographs and audio/video recordings during the conference, pre-conference meetings and receptions that may include attendees within sessions, networking areas, exhibition areas, and other areas associated with the conference both inside and outside of the venue. By registering for this event, all attendees are providing permission for SPE to use this material at its discretion on SPE's websites, marketing materials, and publications. SPE retains ownership of copyright to all photographs and audio/video recording obtained at this event and attendees may request copies of any material in which they are included.

Anti-Trust Statement

  1. No discussion among members, volunteers, or staff, which attempts to arrive at any agreement regarding prices, terms or conditions of sale, distribution, volume, territories, or customers;
  2. No activity or communication which might be construed as an attempt to prevent any person or business entity from gaining access to any market or customer for goods or services or any business entity from obtaining services or a supply of goods;
  3. No activity or communication which might be construed as an agreement to refrain from purchasing or using any materials, equipment, services or supplies of or from any supplier; or
  4. No other activity which violates anti-trust or applicable laws aimed at preventing unfair competition.
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