INTRODUCTION
packaging waste in 2019. Between 2009 and 2019, the recycling volume of this waste increased by 50%. However, a burgeoning plastics packaging market in the decade meant that the volume of waste generated per inhabitant over the decade increased by 24%. Recycling of plastics packaging waste has not
kept pace with the growth in the EU packaging market. So the pressure is on the plastics industry to deal with the problem and plastics producers have turned to chemical recycling as a solution. Mechanical recycling is a more established
transformation route for waste plastics, and it has the advantages of being a cheaper and less energy- intensive process than chemical recycling. But current small capacities for mechanical recycling are not enough to deliver the huge tonnage of recycled plastics that are necessary to meet regulatory and corporate targets. This is where large-scale polymer producers believe they can step in and help. In May 2021, PlasticsEurope, the representative body for polymer producers in Europe, announced a significant increase in planned chemical recycling investment, from €2.6bn in 2025 to €7.2bn in 2030. Its member companies are aiming to increase their investment in chemical recycling to produce 1.2m tonnes of recycled plastics in 2025 and 3.4m tonnes in 2030. Advocates of chemical recycling state that this growth will not impact on the further development of mechanical recycling, as the focus would be on mixed plastics waste and other types of hard-to-recycle waste streams. PlasticsEurope said: “Chemical recycling allows
us to recycle plastic waste which is otherwise incinerated or sent to landfill. It delivers significant quantities of recycled material with virgin plastic properties. It is complementary to mechanical recycling and has a huge potential for creating quality jobs and contributing to a climate neutral and competitive Circular Economy in Europe.”
6
The American Chemistry Council is supporting US-based polymer producers involved in projects to increase capacity for chemical recycling, or advanced recycling as it is more commonly called in the USA. A chemical recycling report from ACC in 2019 estimat- ed the US could support investment in 260 new facilities converting plastics waste to products such as feedstocks for new plastics and chemicals. ACC’s polymer producing members have set a goal for 100% of US plastic packaging to be reused, recycled or recovered by 2040. To help reach that goal, ACC has drawn up its Roadmap to Reuse which highlights six key areas for plastics makers and the value chain to focus on to help solve plastic waste challenges. Increased plastics recycling capacity will certainly be needed as plastics usage is set to grow over the next decade in all regions of the world. According to a forecast by AMI Consulting, China accounted for almost one-third of commodity polymer demand in the world in 2019. By 2030, China is forecast to account for 38%. This contrasts with slower virgin polymer demand growth in Europe (0.2% annually to 2030) and in North America (1.1% annually) and South America (also 1.1% annually). South East Asia and the Middle East/Africa are both forecast to grow by 3% per year. The Indian Subcontinent will be a hotspot with its polymer demand forecast to grow by 5.3% per year up to 2030. In its Chemical Recycling Global Status 2020
report, AMI Consulting presents its expectations for the global chemical recycling market in 2025 and 2030. It is forecasting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for global chemical recycling of 28.0% up to 2030. Europe is expected to grow fastest and have a lead over North America by 2030 due to the more advanced legislative agenda of the European Union. But North America will not be far behind, and Asia is likely to also experience good growth. Of the four types of chemical recycling tech- nologies – pyrolysis, gasification, depolymerisation and dissolution – pyrolysis will be the dominant one in terms of total waste recycled (also see separate technology article). This is due to a few factors: the greater number of pyrolysis projects currently being developed; less complexity than other processes; fewer concerns about the scale required to achieve commercial viability. Mixed polyolefins can readily be recycled in
large amounts using pyrolysis. Depolymerisation technologies will mainly be used for PET waste types, such as coloured material, that mechanical recycling is not targeting. Polystyrene waste will be recycled by different technologies, especially dissolution and depolymerisation.n
Chemical Recycling – Global Insight 2022
SOURCE: EUROSTAT
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
