Italian plastics producer Versalis, Milan-based subsidiary of the Eni chemicals and energy group, has signed an agreement with Italian engineering firm Servizi di Ricerche e Sviluppo to further develop a new technology to chemically recycle plastic waste.

As part of the project branded as Hoop, symbolizing circularity, Versalis will build a 6,000 t/y test plant at its Mantua site, with a view to progressively scaling up output.

The facility will use a pyrolysis process owned by Servizi di Ricerche e Sviluppo – the name translates into English as Service of Research and Development – to convert previously unrecyclable soiled plastics waste into feedstock for new virgin polymers.

 Versalis CEO Daniele Ferrari said the project confirms the plastics producer’s strategy to develop a chemical recycling technology that will complement its mechanical recycling technology.