Plastics recycling projects unveiled for the US, Europe

Several big firms are backing plastics recycling projects in Europe and the US. Shell is planning a pyrolysis oil upgrader at its complex in Moerdijk, the Netherlands. The facility, which will have capacity of about 50,000 metric tons (t) per year, will make the output from plants that break down plastic waste via pyrolysis more suitable as a chemical feedstock. Neste is receiving a $135 million grant from the European Union’s Innovation Fund for chemical recycling facilities at its Porvoo, Finland, refinery. The company aims to liquefy and upgrade 400,000 t of plastic waste per year. Versalis has licensed technology from Forever Plast that it will use to build a mechanical recycling plant at its site in Marghera, Italy. The 50,000 t plant will focus on polystyrene and polyethylene. Trinseo is partnering with GMP Group on a plant in the Netherlands that will use GMP’s pretreatment technology to process 25,000 t of polystyrene. Finally, in the US, Braskem says it will buy the output from a pyrolysis plant that the recycling firm Nexus Circular is planning for the Chicago area. The plant will have 30,000 t of capacity.