Major companies in the chemical value chain such as Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and LyondellBasell are stepping up their efforts in recycling amid rapidly mounting plastic waste. The three companies have all launched projects or pilot plants on recycling plastic waste into reusable materials.
Partnered with Atlanta-based Nexus Fuels, Shell is working on chemical recycling to convert plastic waste into petrochemicals. Nexus produces liquid feedstock from plastic waste. The Anglo-Dutch energy giant then uses the feedstock to manufacture high-end petrochemical products at its plant in Norco, Louisiana.
Nexus utilizes a chemical recycling method known as pyrolysis. The technique cracks the plastic waste by rapidly heating it without oxygen and then liquefy it to make virgin chemical feedstock used to produce like-new plastics. This method allows the plastic to be recycled again and again without degrading its quality, unlike traditional mechanical recycling. Shell aims to recycle 1 million/year of plastic waste by 2025.
BP recently announced a pilot plant in Illinois to test new recycling technologies. The British energy major is investing $25 million in the plant to develop a method to produce new plastic feedstock from plastic that is currently unable to be recycled.
Meanwhile, LyondellBasell has set up a pilot plant in Italy to test a new method to recycle old plastics on a molecular level. The company cooperates with the German Karlsruhe Institute to develop MoReTec, a chemical recycling technology that utilizes a special catalyst. LyondellBasell claims MoReTec can structurally break down plastics into molecules faster and more efficiently compared to conventional chemical recycling technologies.
