CHEMICAL RECYCLING | PYROLYSIS PROJECTS


Right: Eastman has two chemical recycling technologies that tackle different feedstock streams


those seeking to restrict use of chemical recycling of plastics, Dow says: “It’s worth noting that many of the objections levelled at advanced recycling come from NGOs. However, it should be pointed out that many of the studies NGOs reference on advanced recycling do not actually refer to recy- cling, but to technology which turns waste plastics into fuels like diesel. We do not support this as a form of recycling and encourage the EU’s effort to ensure no fuels are counted as recycling.” At BASF, a spokesman highlights the ChemCy-


cling project, which was started in 2018. The company is working with partners to further develop pyrolysis technology to produce pyrolysis oil. BASF now has three technology partnerships. In


2019, it invested €20m in Quantafuel, a Norwe- gian company specialised in the pyrolysis of mixed plastic waste and the purification of the resulting oil. In September 2020, Quantafuel started up its first pyrolysis plant with a capacity of approximately 20,000 tonnes/yr in Skive, Denmark. Earlier this year, BASF, Quantafuel and Remondis


agreed to jointly evaluate a co-operation in chemical recycling including a joint investment into a pyrolysis plant. Remondis would supply plastic waste to the plant, and BASF would use the resulting pyrolysis oil as feedstock in its production. Quantafuel intends to provide the technology and to operate the plant. A decision on whether to go ahead with the plant will be taken next year. “We do not think that chemical recycling will be


Below: Renasci’s ISCC PLUS-certified recycling centre in Oostende, Belgium


dominating in future, but we believe that it can make a significant contribution to the recycling of waste plastics if the regulatory framework will support it,” says BASF. “Today, the legislative framework of the EU builds on a technology-neu- tral definition of recycling and counts chemical recycling as a technology contributing, e.g., towards the recycling targets of plastic packaging. Yet, it is up to the interpretation of individual


countries how chemical recycling contributes to meeting their recycling targets. In Germany, for example, chemical recycling is not yet recognised as a process which contributes to fulfilling the plastic packaging waste recycling targets. It would be an important political signal to be able to contribute to the achievement of all recycling targets also through chemical recycling. Moreover, full acceptance of mass balance approaches is needed, both on EU and national level.” In September, Quantafuel announced plans to


expand into the UK, with a plant in Sunderland that could be up and running “in a few years.” Additional sites are also being considered by Quantafuel UK. The Sunderland plant will be designed to process more than 100,000 tonnes/yr of waste plastics, to be sourced from across the north of England. Within its “circular cascade model,” Borealis has


the brand Borcycle C for chemical recycling solutions. In June, it announced an exclusive agreement with Renasci which has enabled Borealis to offer commercial volumes of chemically recycled base chemicals and polyolefins since May. (Borealis has a 10% share of Renasci.) Borealis obtains chemically recycled material from Renasci Oostende Recycling in Belgium. Projected output is 20,000 tonnes/yr. Waste feedstock processed at Renasci’s ISCC


PLUS-certified recycling centre is derived from mainly dried household waste and some industrial waste. In a first step, the waste is sorted multiple times to extract the best value plastic material for mechanical recycling. The waste feedstock which cannot be mechanically recycled is then chemically recycled; this chemically recycled feedstock will be subsequently processed in the Borealis steam crackers, initially at its production location in Porvoo, Finland. In April, Borealis said it has begun another


project to secure an increased supply of chemically 24 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | November/December 2021 www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


IMAGE: RENASCI


IMAGE: EASTMAN


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