INDUSTRY
Realising the opportunity
How will the chemical recycling industry develop? We look at factors that have a major influence on the industry’s
progress, including legislation and the mass balance concept
The chemical recycling industry has started on a growth path as the drive for greater plastics recycling volumes stimulates demand. As well as supply-demand dynamics, there are other impor- tant factors that are helping to shape the chemical recycling industry, such as legislation. In Europe, regulatory impetus in plastics
recycling comes from the European Union’s Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy which the European Commission announced in 2018. This set out a series of targets focussed on packag- ing recycling: a target for recycling 65% of packag- ing waste by 2025 and 70% by 2030, and a specific target for plastic packaging recycling of 50% by 2025 and 55% by 2030. Another aim is for all packaging to be recyclable
by 2030, which would not only help grow mechani- cally recycled volumes but would also benefit chemical recycling by reducing contamination in waste feedstock.
Going hand-in-hand with legislation is funding
support from the EU. Among collaborative R&D projects is Demeto, in which 13 partners are developing a PET depolymerisation process using microwave-based process intensification, and which receives funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Other EU projects are not looking at packaging but focus on other areas, such as the Plast2BCleaned project in WEEE plastics recycling, and the Circular Flooring project which is investigating the CreaSolv process as a means for recycling PVC flooring.
Chemical Recycling – Global Insight 2022 Associations have been set up to provide
collaborative platforms as the chemical recycling industry grows. The European Coalition for Chemi- cal Recycling was founded in early 2019 by Cefic and PlasticsEurope, which supports the work of the EU Circular Plastics Alliance and its aim to ensure that 10 million tonnes of recycled plastics find their way into new European products by 2025. Chemi- cal Recycling Europe’s members are companies fully focused on chemical recycling technology rather than production of plastics, although it does hope to involve petrochemical companies as well. Voluntary commitments are also acting as a focal point for mechanical and chemical recycling companies. Many polymer producers are among the corporate signatories of the Global Alliance set up by Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which has also led the way for individual countries to formulate specific recycled plastics content targets within its Plastic Pacts initiative. Sector-specific recycling is supported by Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes in different countries. But the extent to which EPR schemes proliferate remains to be seen after some poor results and scheme failures. The chemical recycling industry in the USA is also being influenced by legislation. In the past couple of years, federal bills formulated by often cross-party sponsors have targeted aspects of plastics waste, recycling and environmental improvement. The Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act envisages a producer responsibility scheme involving a 10-cent beverage container deposit
Main image: Mass balance aims to measure the waste plastics contribution from chemical recycling in a much larger manufacturing process and allocate that to the end product
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