OVERVIEW
In its report Global Plastics Outlook: Policy Scenarios to 2060, the OECD describes plastic pollution as one of the great environmental challenges of the 21st
century. Under current
policies the report states that, by 2060, both the use of plastics and the amount of plastic waste could almost triple globally, with half of all plastic waste still being landfilled and less than a fifth recycled.
Feedstock questions Theoretically, there should thus be plenty of feedstock available for both mechanical and chemical recycling. The challenges lie in the fields of waste collection and sorting – only plastic waste that is collected and, at the same time or in a subsequent step, separated from non-plastic waste and sorted and cleansed is available for recycling processes. Feedstock sourcing can thus be challenging for both mechanical and chemical recycling facilities, with the extent of the challenge growing with a facility’s input capacity (also see Feedstock article p16). Several factors combine to make feedstock
sourcing challenging, with the extent of the challenge growing with a facility’s input capacity. Closely related to models of feedstock sourcing is the establishment of feedstock aggregation centres and preparation facilities which ensure that feedstock is of the required specification when it enters chemical recycling plants. The development of these facilities has emerged as a clear industry trend during 2022. Depolymerisation plants and providers of solvent-based purification/dissolution technolo- gies, with some exceptions, tend to design facilities with more moderate annual feedstock volume requirements, as the need to be more selective in the feedstocks they can process presents addition- al feedstock sourcing challenges. In contrast, some pyrolysis and gasification plants are designed at larger capacities, based on their claim to be able to process a more diverse mix of plastic waste and thus encountering fewer challenges in accessing suitable feedstocks. When looking at facilities’ capacities it also must be considered that feedstock volumes in excess of stated capacities must be sourced to account for feedstock loss during the material preparation process. In any case, chemical recyclers need to make the securing of sufficient feedstock supplies a key focus for their activities, with investors demanding evidence of feedstock security as one of the criteria when making investment decisions. Key questions to be asked include the following:
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Volumes – How much feedstock is required for a given time period as well as for the years ahead based on any capacity expansion plans? Security of supply – How secure are the volumes available from the feedstock sources/suppliers under consideration going forward, which contractual arrangements are necessary to secure supplies? Composition – How much detail is available on feedstock composition and how homogenous are the volumes delivered over a course of time? Pre-processing – How much pre-processing is required (sorting, cleaning etc)? Cost – Is there a cost or a revenue stream associ- ated with feedstock sourcing? Logistics – Over what distances does the feedstock have to be transported and at what cost?
Despite chemical recyclers’ pledges to focus on feedstock not suitable for mechanical recycling, at present, no clearly defined line can be drawn between feedstocks going to mechanical recycling and those targeted by chemical recyclers. As a result, concerns have been raised within the industry about the growing feedstock require- ments of the chemical recycling industry creating competition for feedstock with mechanical recyclers. At AMI Consulting, our detailed assessment of chemical recyclers’ feedstock requirements by technology suggests that market forces – develop- ments in the pricing of different types of feedstocks – will have their part to play in deciding which feedstocks will be accessible to the different elements in the recycling industry. Regarding chemical recycling outputs, the mass balance approach is intended to provide a set of rules for how to allocate recycled content to different end products to be able to claim and market the content as “recycled”, especially where pyrolysis technology is used (also see Technologies article). Ultimately, the amount of recycled feed- stock that enters a steam cracker needs to equal the amount exiting it, thus providing a means to estimate the average recycled content in a product.
Regional differences The development of the chemical recycling industry differs between regions across the globe. Europe is at present considered to be at the forefront of technological developments in chemical recycling technology. Combined with a better developed collection, sorting and recycling system and the presence of a variety of research centres and grant funding it has been leading the industry so far. Over coming years, developments in North America are,
Chemical Recycling – Global Insight 2023
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