Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-10-13 Origin: Site
Plastics are complex in type and diverse in composition, and plastic recycling processes and methods are equally varied. Plastic pyrolysis oil is a liquid hydrocarbon mixture obtained through the pyrolysis of waste plastics under oxygen-free conditions. It is the primary product of chemical recycling, with a complex composition containing various hydrocarbons such as alkanes, alkenes, and aromatics.
I. Waste Plastic Pyrolysis Products: Uses of Pyrolysis Oil
1. Primary Use: Direct Use as Fuel. Pyrolysis oil has a high calorific value and can serve as an alternative fuel for industrial facilities such as cement kilns, steel plants, and power plants, directly combusted for heat or power generation. This is the application with the lowest technical threshold and the smallest investment cost.
2. Intermediate Use: Deep Processing into Gasoline and Diesel. Pyrolysis oil is separated into light diesel fractions and heavy residues through vacuum distillation or other means. The diesel fractions, after hydrotreating to meet standards, can be directly used in diesel engines. Alternatively, under a hydrogen atmosphere, pyrolysis oil undergoes hydrodesulfurization, hydrodenitrogenation, dechlorination, and olefin saturation reactions to obtain high-quality gasoline and diesel fractions that can be used as commercial transportation fuels.
3. High-Value Use: As Chemical Feedstock. Refined pyrolysis oil (especially light fractions) can serve as feedstock for steam cracking units, where it can be directionally decomposed into basic chemical monomers such as ethylene, propylene, and butadiene, which are then used to produce new plastics, synthetic fibers, rubber, and other chemical products. This is the core pathway for achieving "waste plastic → new plastic" circularity. According to industry estimates, through this pathway, the added value per ton of waste plastic pyrolysis oil can increase by approximately 3–5 times.
The complete pathway of waste plastic → pyrolysis oil → steam cracking → basic chemical monomers → polymerization → new plastic achieves same-grade, high-value recycling of waste plastics. The regenerated plastics have quality identical to virgin materials and can be applied in high-end fields such as food packaging, medical devices, and automotive components, avoiding the "downcycling" problem inherent in mechanical recycling.
Global market demand for basic chemical monomers such as ethylene and propylene is enormous. As countries set recycled content targets, demand for high-quality recycled chemical feedstocks will continue to grow.
II. The Most Promising Application: Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
The aviation industry is considered a "hard-to-decarbonize" sector, and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is regarded as the most realistic pathway for achieving carbon neutrality in aviation. The EU's ReFuelEU Aviation regulation requires that, starting in 2025, flights departing from EU airports must use at least 2% SAF, increasing to 6% by 2030 and 70% by 2050. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has set a target: by 2050, SAF will account for 65% of total global aviation fuel, with annual demand growing from approximately 600,000 tons in 2023 to approximately 450 million tons in 2050—an increase of more than 700-fold. The United States provides SAF production tax credits (US$1.25–1.75 per gallon) through the Inflation Reduction Act. In 2025, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the "Sustainable Aviation Fuel Development Action Plan," launching SAF application pilot programs.
Compared with traditional petroleum-based aviation fuel, waste plastic-based SAF offers particularly significant carbon reduction benefits and also displaces fossil fuel use, achieving a "dual benefit" of carbon reduction.
III. Niutech's Contributions in the High-Value Application of Pyrolysis Oil
As a globally leading manufacturer of pyrolysis technology and equipment, Niutech's self-developed "plastic-to-oil system"—the industrial continuous pyrolysis production line—can efficiently convert waste plastics into high-quality pyrolysis oil. The company's self-developed "Industrial Continuous Waste Plastic Pyrolysis Production Line" has been honored with the National Science and Technology Progress Award, achieving high pyrolysis oil yield and superior quality, with a single-unit annual processing capacity exceeding 10,000 tons. Niutech has obtained dual international ISCC certifications, marking that its technologies and products have received global sustainability and green certification.
Niutech's pyrolysis oil products already possess the technical conditions to serve as feedstock for SAF production. The company has established cooperation with a renowned energy company to advance the integration of pyrolysis oil into the SAF processing industry chain, realizing a complete value chain of "waste plastic → pyrolysis oil → SAF → aviation fuel."
Its plastic pyrolysis projects have been implemented in multiple countries worldwide. The 10,000-ton-scale waste plastic chemical recycling project in Denmark has achieved commercial production of high-quality pyrolysis oil from waste plastics, validating the technical feasibility and commercial reliability of pyrolysis oil as a chemical feedstock.
The waste plastic pyrolysis project in Thailand has been operating continuously and stably for over 10 years, providing long-term engineering validation for the high-value application of pyrolysis oil.
Pyrolysis oil is ultimately repolymerized into new plastics—a pathway that achieves same-grade, high-value recycling of waste plastics with significant technical and economic viability, representing the application direction with the greatest commercial value and environmental benefits currently available.
As global pressure to reduce carbon emissions intensifies and SAF policies continue to strengthen, the production of SAF from pyrolysis oil will become the application direction with the greatest strategic value and commercial prospects. With its leading pyrolysis technology and industrialization experience, Niutech occupies a key strategic position in this emerging industrial chain and is poised to become an important technology provider for the global waste plastic-to-SAF industry.
