CHEMICAL RECYCLING | PYROLYSIS PROJECTS
than a handful in Europe and in North America making a quality suitable for consumption by petrochemical companies. Companies are produc- ing pyrolysis oil from post-consumer plastics and also from used car tyres. It is unclear how much plastics are currently
produced using chemical recycled feedstocks, but volumes are certainly modest, especially in com- parison with capacities for producing virgin polymers. Volumes are also modest in comparison with market demand. Demand from brand owners, especially in the food and beverage market, is well in excess of production quantities. “Demand is immediate. It is on us as an industry to make that material available in larger amounts,” says Vester. SABIC is also exploring opportunities in other
Above: BP and SABIC are working to drive a circular economy in petrochemical activities at the Gelsenkirchen chemical complex
plants in Spain, using a thermal anaerobic conver- sion (TAC) process to produce what it brands as Tacoil. The Spanish facilities take waste, mostly film, collected by a waste management company that would normally send the material to landfill. Plastic Energy says it is continuing to increase its
portfolio of European projects, with a 20,000 tonne/yr plant currently under construction in the Netherlands with partner SABIC in a joint venture called SPEAR (SABIC Plastic Energy Advanced Recycling), and a 25,000 tonne plant that has recently started construction in France, along with a collaboration offtake agreement with ExxonMobil. The company also has a joint venture with
TotalEnergies for a 15,000 tonne capacity recycling plant at the latter’s Grandpuits “zero-crude plat- form” site in France, with construction expected to start soon. This will be France’s first chemical recycling plant using pyrolysis to produce Tacoil. The plant in the Netherlands is expected to become operational in 2022, with SABIC building a treatment facility to purify the pyrolysis oil coming from this joint venture, before feeding the oil into its own processes. Both plants in France should be operational in 2023. Plastic Energy has also signed a collaboration agreement with Nestlé for a chemical recycling project in the UK. This October, Plastic Energy also announced a
partnership with Freepoint Eco-systems and its first recycling project in the US, with plans to build a 33,000 tonne capacity plant in Texas, and a collabo- ration offtake agreement with TotalEnergies; it should be operational by mid-2024. In addition to this, Plastic Energy has an MoU with Petronas for a recycling project in Malaysia, and says it is working towards expanding in other parts of Asia. Gradually, more operators are starting to make
pyrosis oil available says Mark Vester, Global Circular Economy Leader at SABIC. There are more
20 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | November/December 2021
regions, including working with Saudi Investment Recycling Company. The two companies are cooperating in Saudi Arabia to build the first chemical recycling facility in the country, producing feedstock for SABIC’s local polymer units. A full- scale plant producing chemically recycled polymer is unlikely before the end of 2025. “At present, no technology for pyrolysis is capable to propose a single reactor solution for such volumes,” says Vester. “You also need to look at where feedstocks will come from and how they will be prepared, which is quite challenging. We are all pioneers.” In March, BP and SABIC signed a new agree- ment to work together to drive a circular economy in petrochemical activities at the Gelsenkirchen chemical complex. The two companies have a long history of cooperation on the site, dating back to when SABIC acquired the polymer production assets on the site. Pyrolysis oil will be processed at BP’s refining site and then used by SABIC in its polymer plants to produce certified circular products, part of its Trucircle portfolio and services. After successful trials in December 2020, polymer production using the alternative feedstock started at the site early this year. BP and Brightmark, a global waste solutions company that has proprietary chemical recycling technology, have signed an MoU to jointly evaluate opportunities for development of the next genera- tion of plastic waste renewal plants in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Brightmark and BP intend to work together to develop plans that could lead to the construction of an initial European plant. BP is the offtaker for Brightmark’s 100,000 tonnes/yr pyrolysis plant in Ashley, Indiana, USA, which is currently undergoing final commissioning. In January, Brightmark and SK Global Chemical,
headquartered in South Korea, signed an MoU to create a partnership to build a commercial scale
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
IMAGE: SABIC
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