The facility will deploy and commercialize Honeywell’s chemical recycling UpCycle process technology, with capacity to convert 30,000 t/y of mixed waste plastics, including colored, flexible, multilayered packaging and polystyrene that traditional mechanical recycling methods are unable to handle.

Production is expected to begin in 2023. Sacyr said UpCycle plants will employ a modular design, striking the right balance between economy of scale and amount of waste plastic generated locally.

“Our partnership with Honeywell will enable Sacyr to bring sustainable, circular solutions to market,” said Domingo Jiménez, manager of Sacyr Circular. “The speed with which we can start up plants and the global viability of this solution has the potential to greatly accelerate the impact we can have on the communities we serve, the environment, and society as a whole.”

According to the companies, recycled plastics produced via UpCycle can reduce CO₂-equivalent (CO₂e) emissions by 57% compared with producing virgin plastic from fossil feedstocks. The technology also reduces CO₂e emissions by 77% compared with conventional modes of handling plastic waste, such as incineration and landfilling, they said.

A study published in September 2020 by market researcher AMI International estimated that chemical (or advanced) recycling technologies could yield an additional 5 million to 15 million t of recycled plastic waste each year by 2030.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist