Former investment banker Shervin Sharghy takes a practical approach to plastic recycling, first asking whether it makes financial sense before tackling the technical challenges.
The founder of Hong Kong-based EcoBricks said the main obstacle to recycling plastic was often economic rather than scientific.
Collecting, sorting, cleaning and processing waste plastic typically costs more than producing new materials from oil and gas, particularly at the small scale at which most recyclers operate.
Sharghy is a finalist for the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award in this year’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, co-organised by Sino Group and the South China Morning Post.