Chemical maker LyondellBasell has successfully started up its new molecular recycling facility at its Ferrara, Italy, the company said on September 8. The new plant is designed to transform post-consumer plastic waste back to its molecular form by using LyondellBasell's proprietary MoReTec advanced recycling technology. The molecules then can be used as a feedstock to produce new plastic materials.
LyondellBasell claims that the recycled feedstock is able to meet high regulatory standards to be used in healthcare items and food packaging. The company began developing MoreTec with Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2018. It announced the construction of the Ferrara facility as a pilot project for the new technology in October 2019. The company’s research and development teams continued to work to apply MoreTec on a commercial scale.
The Ferrara plant can process 5-10 kg/hour of household plastic waste. This pilot project will help LyondellBasell to understand the interaction of various kinds of waste in molecular recycling and determine the best temperature and time required to decompose the plastic waste into molecules. LyondellBasell will also test various catalysts in the facility. The trials are expected to be completed over the next couple of years before applying the methods on an industrial scale.
The MoReTec technology compliments LyondellBasell’s other circular solutions and is part of the company’s commitment to plastics-to-plastics conversion. In March 2018, LyondellBasell acquired a 50% stake in Quality Circular Polymers (QCP) which uses packaging waste to produce premium plastic pellets. Last year, it started production of plastics from renewable raw materials.
