Shell Chemicals Europe BV and Pryme BV today announced a strategic cooperation and offtake agreement for pyrolysis oil made from recycled plastic waste. Pryme will supply Shell from its first plant located in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Currently under construction, the plant is scheduled to become operational in 2022 and is forecast to convert 60,000 tonnes of plastic waste into pyrolysis oil annually. Shell will use Pryme’s pyrolysis oil in its Moerdijk (The Netherlands) and Rheinland (Germany) crackers to make circular chemicals products.
The agreement also includes provision for future supply to be delivered from Pryme’s proposed second plant in the region. The proposed plant will have an estimated annual pyrolysis oil production capacity of 350,000 tonnes. Start-up for the second plant is planned for 2024.
“With increasing demand for circular chemicals from customers, our agreement with Pryme enables us to significantly grow volumes as early as next year. The agreement builds on Shell’s ambition to recycle one million tonnes of plastic waste per year in our global chemicals plants by 2025,” said Thomas Casparie, SVP North West Europe, Shell Chemicals and Products.
“To support the long-term growth of this promising industry, Shell is excited to work with key partners to develop the solutions necessary to produce the industrial quantities required to meet customer demand and our ambition.”
As part of the strategic agreement, Shell and Pryme will cooperate on the testing and evaluation of pyrolysis liquid samples from Pryme’s test plant in Ghent, Belgium. This process will enhance the understanding of both companies into the optimal properties of pyrolysis oil for use in chemical crackers. This is a key step needed to develop and mature the value chain and will bring efficiencies to the recycling of plastic waste on an industrial scale.
“We are excited to announce our strategic cooperation with Shell. This relationship, combined with our scalable technology, will enable Pryme to commit to equivalent long-term volumes with plastic waste suppliers and help accelerate the growth of this developing and necessary value chain.” says Jos van der Endt, CEO and founder of Pryme BV.
“I’m delighted we are building on our strong relationship with Shell. We are both committed to developing the pyrolysis oil market; and together I’m sure we can make significant progress in advancing an industrial scale plastic waste to chemicals value chain.”
Overview
- Shell has been increasing the use of pyrolysis liquid at its Norco (U.S.) and Moerdijk (Netherlands) petrochemical complexes since November 2019 and August 2021 respectively.
- Shell recently signed a strategic partnership with BlueAlp Holding BV to develop, scale and globally deploy BlueAlp’s plastic waste to chemical feedstock technology.
- Shells plans to deploy its own technology to upgrade the purity of pyrolysis oil at its assets.
- Pyrolysis is a chemical recycling process of heating plastic waste without oxygen breaking down the longer chain polymers into shorter chain materials. These products can then be further processed into chemicals feedstocks or fuels.
- Pyrolysis can recycle low quality plastic waste that cannot not be recycled with the traditional mechanical recycling processes; furthermore, pyrolysis does not degrade the quality of the final plastic and requires less intensive sorting of the initial waste.
About Shell Chemicals
Shell’s global chemicals business supplies customers with a range of base, intermediate and performance chemicals used to make products that people use every day. These finished products contribute to society’s ability to live, work, care and respond to climate change. As global demand for chemicals increases, we plan to grow our business, by understanding and providing for our customers’ needs. Our business is versatile and resilient. We have strong market positions, integrated world-scale assets, leading technologies and a commitment to a sustainable future. References to the expressions “Shell”, “Shell’s chemicals business” or “Shell’s chemical plants” refer to multiple companies that are part of the Shell Group that are engaged in chemical or related businesses.
About Pryme
Pryme BV is an innovative cleantech company focused on converting plastic waste into valuable products through chemical recycling on an industrial scale. Its efficient and scalable technology is based on a proven pyrolysis process that has been further developed and enhanced with proprietary characteristics. With its process fully electrified, Pryme intends to use 100% renewable power. Pryme’s ambition is to contribute to a low-carbon, circular plastic economy and to realize the enormous rollout potential of its technology through the development of a broad portfolio of owned-operated plants with strategic partners. Pryme is listed on the Oslo Euronext Growth Exchange.
Source
Shell, press release, 2021-10-06.
Supplier
Share
Renewable Carbon News – Daily Newsletter
Subscribe to our daily email newsletter – the world's leading newsletter on renewable materials and chemicals
