Start-up of LyondellBasell’s MoReTec plant underlines ambitious plastic waste targets
Conversion: turning it into raw materials, LyondellBasell
New pilot facility in Italy for molecular recycling by LyondellBasell
LyondellBasell started up its MoReTec molecular recycling facility at its Ferrara site in Italy in September 2020. LyondellBasell’s proprietary MoReTec molecular recycling technology aims to return post-consumer plastic waste to its molecular form for use as a feedstock for new plastic materials that offer expanded applications, including medical and food packaging.
The development of MoReTec is part of the company’s strategy to drive one of the most ambitious goals of the industry: to produce and market two million metric tonnes of recycled and renewable-based polymers annually by 2030.
Work on the MoReTec technology started at the Houston Technology Center (HTC) in the United States, where several types of catalyst potentially suitable for molecular recycling technology were screened. Development of this advanced plastics recycling technology continued in a pilot in Germany, combining LyondellBasell’s catalyst systems at the R&D centre in Frankfurt and the reactor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The Ferrara pilot plant, which is capable of processing between 5 and 10 kilogrammes of household plastic waste per hour, is building on that research and testing the most promising catalysts.
Today, the company’s research and development teams in Germany, Italy and United States are actively working to explore potential commercial-scale applications. By advancing its MoReTec technology, LyondellBasell can return larger volumes of plastic waste back into the value chain and produce new materials for high-quality applications, retaining their value for as long as possible.
LyondellBasell has been on a multi-year journey to advance the circular economy, making strides in mechanical and molecular recycling (also called chemical or advanced recycling), as well as producing renewable-based products. LyondellBasell’s goals underscore what they see possible in the next decade, and their sustainability ambitions require the company to adapt its business models. When viewed through the lens of technology and innovation, this track record demonstrates LyondellBasell’s capacity to advance new collaborations and partnerships for the benefit of society.
Read more about MoReTec here.
Circulen Products to Advance Circular Solutions
LyondellBasell’s Circulen product portfolio supports the reduction of plastic waste through the use of recycled content, and a lower carbon footprint through the use of renewable-based content as compared to feedstock from fossil-based sources. As part of this portfolio, CirculenRevive are polymers made using an advanced (molecular) recycling process to convert plastic waste into feedstock to produce new polymers, which have a wide range of uses, including those which must meet strict regulatory requirements such as food packaging and healthcare items.
The portfolio is currently available in Europe and will soon be introduced in North America and China.
For more information on Circulen, click here.
Moving forward
LyondellBasell has announced a new joint venture, Source One Plastics, that will build an energy efficient, advanced plastic waste sorting and recycling facility in Germany. It will produce processed waste that will provide a material part of the feedstock for an advanced recycling plant that LyondellBasell plans to build at its Wesseling, Germany, site. Using LyondellBasell’s MoReTec technology, this plant will be the first commercial scale, single-train advanced recycling plant, designed to demonstrate its capability for further scalability. It will have a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year and convert pre-treated plastic waste into feedstock for use in applications, such as food packaging and healthcare products. The final investment decision on this project is targeted for the end of 2023.
Together with Cyclyx International and ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell is also investing in the United States in a “first-of-its-kind plastic waste sorting and processing facility in the Houston area” that will provide, like the Source One project, feedstock for both mechanical and chemical recycling.