GERMANY -Netherlands-based chemical company, LyondellBasell has announced a new joint venture, Source One Plastics, to construct a plastic waste sorting and recycling facility in Germany.
LyondellBasell said that the energy-efficient, advanced facility will use renewable energy from wind and biomass to process the amount of plastic packaging waste produced by 1.3 million Germans each year.
The JV will offer a wide range of services, including waste procurement, sorting, and pre-treatment to produce feedstock appropriate for generating high-quality PCR material for a variety of applications.
The firm also has plans to build an advanced recycling plant at its site in Wesseling, Germany.
The new Source One Plastics facility will generate processed waste that will provide a material part of the feedstock for LyondellBasell’s upcoming recycling plant.
LyondellBasell claimed that the plant will be the first commercial-scale, single-train advanced recycling facility using its MoReTec technology, and it is intended to show its scalability.
The chemical firm already runs a MoReTec unit that is semi-industrial in scale at its site in Ferrara, Italy.
LyondellBasell Circular and Low Carbon Solutions Executive Vice President Yvonne van der Laan said: “We are committed to supporting our customers to meet their demand for renewable and circular solutions.
“To truly achieve a circular economy, we have to find creative solutions to meet society’s needs.
“We are taking an important first step into the upstream side of the business to secure access to plastic waste that we will convert into new plastic materials at our advanced recycling plants.
“This will enable us to meet our circularity ambition and produce two million tonnes of polymers from recycled or renewable resources annually by 2030.”
The new facility from LyondellBasell is designed to turn post-consumer plastic waste that is difficult to recover into feedstock for new plastic products.
Once it is running, it will recycle plastic products, including mixed plastic containers or multi-layered food packaging.
The final investment decision on this project will be concluded in the coming months, the company noted.
Both initiatives help LyondellBasell achieve its sustainability goal of eliminating environmental plastic waste.
Genox joint venture
Meanwhile, the chemical company has also partnered with Genox Recycling to construct a new plastics recycling plant in Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province of China.
Expected to be operational in 2023, the plastic recycling facility will recycle post-consumer plastic trash mechanically to create new polymers sold under the LyondellBasell Circulen Recover product line.
LyondellBasell said that the JV aims to lessen the quantity of plastic trash dumped in landfills, incinerators, or the environment.
The JV also intends to aid in the rising demand for circular and sustainable solutions and to encourage the high-quality development of local recycling.
LyondellBasell China Polyolefins Vice President Limin Fu said: “Advancing a circular economy that enables plastic waste to be transformed into more sustainable solutions for our customers is important to us, and we are pleased to collaborate with Genox Recycling to make this happen.”
This partnership is one of the recent initiatives LyondellBasell is taking to expand its recycling capacity globally.
The company has plans to work with partners along the value chain to enhance its local capabilities to supply circular solutions in China and contribute to the development of circular economies.
Genox Recycling chairman Jingfa Jiang concluded: “Genox Recycling believes that innovation and collaboration are necessary ways to achieve carbon neutrality.
“We are delighted to join hands with LyondellBasell to lead the development of plastics recycling with a complementary mix of strengths from both parties and accelerate a circular and low-carbon future together.”
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