A girl stands by a wall full of flowers in plastic bottles at Amichai School in Kibbutz Yavne on March 24, 2017. Photo by Gershon Elinson/Flash90.

JNS.org – The Israel Innovation Authority has approved the establishment of a new consortium aimed at promoting the development of recycling technologies, and the use of recycled materials in Israel’s plastics industry.

Set to receive an investment of NIS 30 million (around $8,600,000), the CIRCLE consortium will enable companies in the recycling sector, plastic and polymer manufacturers as well as academic and research institutes in the field to develop innovative technologies to give Israeli industry an edge in international markets. The technologies developed by the consortium will allow for the expansion of the range of recycled materials and their applications.

The consortium’s establishment is aimed at leveraging Israel’s academic and industrial capabilities to close the existing technological gap and situate Israel’s plastics industry as a leader in the field of plastic waste management.

It will operate within Israel Innovation Authority’s MAGNET consortium, a nonprofit association of industrial firms and academic research institutes for the research and development of cutting-edge technologies.

“The world is moving toward a responsible industry and economy through the use of recycled or innovative materials for the sake of environmental protection,” said Israel’s Economy and Industry Minister Eli Cohen.

Meanwhile, a new project in cooperation with Rotem Energy Mineral in the Negev in Israel’s south is expected to create some 2,000 jobs and convert hundreds of thousands of tons of urban plastic waste currently buried in the Ef’eh landfill, Israel’s largest landfill, into electricity and fuel.