Source One Plastics Starts Operations at Plastic Waste Sorting and Recycling Facility

Source One Plastics, a joint venture between 23 Oaks Investments and LyondellBasell, has successfully started up its plastic waste sorting and recycling facility in Eicklingen, Germany. The new unit processes difficult to recycle post-consumer plastic waste such as mixed plastic packaging and flexible polyolefins materials that would otherwise be sent mostly to incineration. The annual expected processing capacity of 70.000 metric tons equals the amount of plastic waste produced by approximately 1,5 million German citizens per year.

The new plant will use an innovative dry processing method to reduce energy consumption by up to thirty percent compared to conventional plastic recycling technologies. The system is designed to minimize the occurrence of fine plastic dust and its release into the environment. The plant is powered by locally generated renewable energy. The plastic waste processed in Eicklingen will provide a material part of the feedstock for the first commercial-scale catalytic advanced recycling plant that LyondellBasell will build at its Wesseling, Germany, site.

“We celebrate today the opening of our joint venture Source One Plastics facility with valued partners, employees and local stakeholders,” says Yvonne van der Laan, LyondellBasell Executive Vice President, Circular and Low Carbon Solutions. “This marks another important milestone in our strategy to transform recycled material into high-quality polymer. This state-of-the-art advanced sorting facility will turn post-consumer mixed plastic waste into feedstock for our integrated hub in Cologne area. There, we will use cutting-edge technologies to close the loop of plastic materials and create sustainable solutions for society .”

The Source One Plastics joint venture will provide a broad portfolio of services to procure, sort, and pre-treat waste plastic to deliver feedstock suitable for advanced recycling. Through advanced recycling, LyondellBasell is producing high-quality polymers for a range of applications.

As a strategic solution provider for the sustainable use of plastics, 23 Oaks unites global experience and comprehensive knowledge in all areas of the circular economy. “We combine this expertise with a strong operational approach,” says Kai Hoyer, owner of 23 Oaks Investments. “With the Source One Plastics plant, we are today inaugurating another ecologically and economically attractive solution for upcycling post-consumer plastic waste. We are proud to see our idea of a better circular economy in action. With the help of AI technology, our system will detect and sort material composites with product-specific accuracy. We have thus laid the foundations for true closed loops, the supreme discipline of the circular economy.”