Last month, the companies agreed to form a joint venture, called One Source Resources, that would operate the facility with capacity to convert the plastics waste generated by an estimated 1.3 million people into feedstock to make 50,000 t/y of new plastic materials.

The new facility penciled in to start up at the end of 2025 would run on energy from wind and biomass and use the Dutch-headquartered chemical producer’s MoReTec recycling technology to produce its branded CirculenRevive polymers used in applications such as food packaging and healthcare.

"We are actively working to move the circular economy forward. Progressing our MoReTec technolog represents another step LyondellBasell is making to accelerate the development and implementation of scalable sustainable and circular technology," said Yvonne van der Laan, executive vice president, Circular and Low Carbon Solutions.

The high yield, differential technology, she said, will allow the company to convert polyolefin-based plastic waste into pyrolysis oil and pyrolysis gas for use in its crackers. Solid process residues can be reused or consumed in other applications.

Since 2018, LyondellBasell has been conducting basic research into  the chemical recycling of plastic waste, together with Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and the company said it has been able to prove the efficiency of the MoReTec technology at laboratory scale.

Research conducted during operation of a chemical recycling pilot brought on stream at LYB‘s Ferrara, Italy, site in August 2020 is said to have improved the efficiency of the recycling process, while identifying a commercial catalyst and making further progress in the characterization of the waste feedstock stream.

The MoReTec output capability also has been expanded, and in 2021 the company converted the Italian test plant into a small-scale industrial facility.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist