Thermochemical Recycling: Advancing the Circular Plastics Economy

Pyrolysis and Direct Steam Cracking

Pyrolysis stands out as a versatile thermochemical process capable of handling various plastic waste types. It can produce a wide range of products for the chemical and plastics industry, realising both open and closed recycling loops.

While many players focus on large-scale pyrolysis plants using highly sorted municipal plastic waste, there’s growing interest in small-scale, decentralised facilities suited for processing low-quantity waste streams, including industrial residues and hard-to-recycle plastics.

Direct steam cracking offers another innovative approach to handling heterogeneous plastic waste. A fluid bed reactor can be used for direct steam cracking to process a wide variety of polymer-rich wastes, operating at temperatures similar to traditional naphtha crackers (750-850°C). These processes can even handle uncleaned food packaging and reject fractions from mechanical recycling, producing a product stream comparable to naphtha cracker effluent.

Industry Perspectives and Challenges

The development of thermochemical recycling technologies involves various stakeholders, including chemical companies, refineries, waste management firms, and EPC contractors. A key question in the industry is whether advanced plastic recycling will be located close to plastic waste sources and/or around steam crackers.

Experienced EPC contractors play a crucial role in scaling up these technologies, addressing safety concerns, material selection, and design issues that arise during plant scale-up.

Environmental and Economic Considerations

While thermochemical recycling offers promising solutions for hard-to-recycle plastics, it’s important to consider its environmental impact. Blueplasma Power’s Gasification technology, for instance, claims to produce high-value outputs with an 80% lower CO₂ footprint compared to traditional methods.

Economically, the viability of Pyrolysis depends on factors such as oil prices, recycled plastic demand, and regulatory incentives. Small-scale pyrolysis plants are being evaluated for their economic potential in handling low-quantity waste streams.

Conclusion

Thermochemical recycling technologies are rapidly evolving, offering promising solutions for the plastic waste crisis. As these technologies mature and scale, they have the potential to significantly contribute to a more circular and sustainable plastics economy. However, continued research, development, and policy support will be crucial to overcome remaining challenges and fully realise the potential of thermochemical recycling.

Advanced Recycling Technologies

These and other urgent topics will be showcased at the upcoming Advanced Recycling Conference, providing attendees with comprehensive insights into the latest developments in the field. Selected examples in the field of thermochemical recycling include:

• AES Autonome Energiesysteme GmbH: Small-scale pyrolysis plants exploring the economic viability of small-scale decentralised pyrolysis plants for low-quantity waste streams. These plants could provide solutions for industrial waste, residues from sorting, and hard-to-process plastics that are currently not addressed by large-scale facilities.
• University of Technology Chalmers / Energy Technology: A direct steam cracking process developed in collaboration with Swedish chemical industries uses a fluid bed reactor to handle heterogeneous plastic waste mixtures. This technology can process uncleaned food packaging and reject fractions from mechanical recycling plants, producing a product stream comparable to naphtha cracker effluent.
• Mura Technology’s Hydro-PRT: This hydrothermal advanced recycling process targets post-use waste plastic, including multi-layered, flexible, and rigid packaging. It aims to produce recycled feedstock for virgin-grade plastic manufacturing, with potential for significant carbon emission reduction.
• Aduro’s Hydrocemolytic™ Technology: An alternative to conventional pyrolysis that breaks down complex plastic waste mixtures into substantially saturated hydrocarbon products. It removes heteroatoms through hydrolysis and reduces the need for aftertreatment, avoiding the use of molecular hydrogen.
• Blueplasma Power’s Gasification: This patented technology converts various carbon-based wastes into CO₂-free hydrogen and circular carbonates. It offers feedstock flexibility and can process as little as 2,000 tons/year of waste, making it suitable for smaller-scale applications.
• BlueAlp Production: Accelerating Plastic Recycling – Close to the Waste or Close to the Cracker? Insights prom BlueAlp’s pilot plant in Switzerland and key drivers, including the legislative landscape, needed to not just maintain but notably increase the momentum for advanced recycling.
• Fluor: Developing Plastic (Pyrolysis) Recycling Projects – An EPC Contractor’s Perspective. High temperature hydrocarbon processes and discussions on the selection of adequate materials of construction to secure reliable plant operation.

Upcoming Conference on Advanced Recycling

For industry professionals and researchers interested in exploring the latest developments in thermochemical recycling and recycling in general, the Advanced Recycling Conference 2024 will take place on 20-21 November 2024 in Cologne, Germany, and online and will showcase all relevant solutions in the field of advanced recycling, providing a platform for knowledge exchange and networking among experts in the industry.

The conference will cover a wide range of topics related to advanced recycling technologies—including pyrolysis, gasification, enzymolysis, and more—bringing together stakeholders from across various waste value chains. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about cutting-edge advancements and engage with leaders in the field.

Register now at Advanced Recycling Conference to secure your spot: https://advanced-recycling.eu

nova-Institute further published a comprehensive market report titled “Mapping of Advanced Plastic Waste Recycling Technologies and their Global Capacities” which is available here: https://renewable-carbon.eu/publications/product/mapping-of-advanced-plastic-waste-recycling-technologies-and-their-global-capacities/

Source

nova-Institute, original text, 2024-10-22.

Supplier

Aduro Clean Technologies, Inc.
AES Autonome Energiesysteme
BlueAlp Holding BV
Blueplasma Power
Chalmers University of Technology
Fluor Corp.
Mura Technology Ltd.
nova-Institut GmbH

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