INDUSTRY
outputs typically take the form of basic hydrocar- bons that subsequently make their way through multiple and complex cracking and polymerisation processes. The solution for the chemical recycling industry is to follow the principles of mass balance. Already applied in sectors as varied as electricity
Above: Recycling Technologies makes its Plaxx pyrolysis oil from waste plastics at its plant in Swindon, UK
program to operate nationally, minimum recycled content targets, phasing out some single-use plastics items, and a temporary halt to new polymer production plants being built. The RECOVER Act focuses on allocating federal grants to states and municipalities to invest in improving their recycling programs and infrastructure. In addition to federal and state legislation, the
Environmental Protection Agency has developed a National Recycling Strategy with a goal of achieving a 50% recycling rate for all materials by 2030. The American Chemistry Council, representing petro- chemical and polymer producers, has been proac- tive and developed its own Roadmap to Reuse to support its members’ aim for all US plastics packag- ing to be reused, recycled or recovered by 2040. In the ACC’s opinion, crucial to the US achieving its plastics sustainability ambitions is the need for official recognition of chemical recycling and its contribution to the country’s efforts. Placing chemical recycling on a par with mechanical recycling is also desirable for plastics producers working in Europe. The risk for the chemical recycling industry is that its processes are not defined as recycling if the European Commission holds the position that the waste plastics input can be converted to fuel either for processing purposes or in the creation of new fuel products. After much lobbying of the European Commission, it has still not officially announced if its definition of plastics recycling includes chemical recycling processes.
Mass balance A counter approach is being followed by chemical recycling companies with regard to the input-out- put of their plants and its use in the production of new plastics: it’s called the mass balance approach. Tracking use of recycled material is relatively straightforward in the mechanical recycling supply chain but not so easy in chemical recycling, where
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marketing and Fair Trade agriculture, the mass balance concept aims to determine and measure the contribution of a particular component in a much larger manufacturing process and allocate that accordingly to each unit of end product. In the case of chemical recycling, it aims to ensure that the amount of recycled feedstock entering a production plant equates to any claims made about the recycled content of a product leaving it. While this may sound a simple task, the reality is much more complex as different approaches can be taken with regard to what and where to allocate. For instance, the entire output of a chemical recycling process could be allocated as a contribu- tor to any polymer or chemical production process — so called free-attribution. Alternatively, it may be decided to allocate only the non-fuel components. Or, at its strictest, only those components used as a non-fuel contributor to production of a polymer. Chemical Recycling Europe leans toward the
free-attribution approach. In a recent white paper it said: “Our position is that all mass-balance inter- pretations should ensure that the full recycled output from chemical recycling finds a credible value and recognition though the system.” Others, however, favour more restriction. Zero
Waste Europe, together with several other environ- mental NGOs, this year published 10 recommenda- tions to ensure that mass balance does not under- mine circularity goals. These include only allowing post-consumer waste streams, not allowing trading of recycled content credits, and ensuring alloca- tions are restricted only to processes where there is a direct link between feedstock and final product (an approach being followed by Sweden’s Perstorp with its traceable mass balance scheme). Mass balance will be essential in the develop-
ment of chemical recycling as an industrial process and to that end must be seen to be transparent and trusted — consumers, for example, must understand the claims made and, more importantly, have confidence in them. A number of organisations are already running certification programmes, of which the best known are International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC)and RedCert (both headquartered in Germany). In addition, last year the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) announced it had started work on a global mass balance standard.n
Chemical Recycling – Global Insight 2022
IMAGE: RECYCLING TECHNOLOGIES
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