Investment In Global Waste Plastic Pyrolysis Projects Is Accelerating

Recently, the pace of investment in global waste plastic pyrolysis projects has been accelerating. The past few months have seen a flurry of announcements around the world regarding projects and supply agreements for the chemical recycling of plastic waste, with large-scale commercial processing facilities being built around the world.

Among these chemical recycling technologies for plastics, the pyrolysis process has always played a dominant role. In recent months, European and American waste plastic pyrolysis equipment have sprung up in the Atlantic region.

Recently, Total Energy signed contract with New Hope Energy of Texas, USA. It will receive 100,000 tons of pyrolysis oil per year to produce recycled plastics at its Taylor, Texas plant. In order to support new contracts, New Hope Energy is planning to expand the waste plastic pyrolysis plant to 16,000 tons/year and reach 156,000 tons/year in 2025.

In addition, BP has a 10-year naphtha offtake agreement with Clean Planet Energy. According to the agreement, BP will obtain the waste plastic pyrolysis oil produced by Clean Planet Energy in Teesside, UK. In the future, BP will also be able to obtain these products through Clean Planet Energy's factories outside Teesside. Clean Planet Energy said it plans to build as many as 12 plants around the world.

As demand for pyrolysis oil increases, other companies are building such industrial projects. in May, Xycle, a joint venture between Royal Dutch Vorpal, NoWIT and Patpert Teknow Systems, announced plans to begin construction of a 20,000-ton/year pyrolysis plant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by the end of 2022, with operations expected in the fourth quarter of 2023. Xycle said its ultimate goal is to have an operational pyrolysis capacity of 80,000 to 100,000 tons per year.

In April, Houston-based Freepoint Eco Systems announced that it will continue construction of a plastics waste pyrolysis plant in Hebron, Ohio, with a capacity of approximately 90,000 tons/year, and that the facility is expected to be completed in 2023.  In October 2021, Freepoint announced that it will cooperate with Total Energy and Plastic Energy to build a 33,000 tons/year pyrolysis plant in Texas, USA. The facility is scheduled to start production in mid-2024. In addition, the 15,000-ton/year conversion plant built by Total Energy in cooperation with Plastic Energy at the Grand Pieces petrochemical complex in France is scheduled to start production next year. The two parties are also building a 33,000-ton/year pyrolysis facility in Seville, Spain, which will be put into operation in early 2025.

Texas-based Encina Development Group plans in April to invest $1.1 billion in the company's proprietary plastic fluidized catalytic cracking process, with a design aromatics capacity of 450,000 tpy. Encina expects the facility to be fully operational by fall 2024.

In terms of waste plastic pyrolysis technology, many countries have also accelerated the research and development of the technology. On the one hand, waste plastic pyrolysis plant makes waste plastic pollution solutions more abundant and comprehensive, and on the other hand the technology promotes the recycling of oil resources. 

The large continuous waste plastic pyrolysis technology and equipment developed by Niutech is one of the advanced waste plastics solution technologies in the world. The techjnology can convert plastic to fuel. At present, the application and operation of waste plastics pyrolysis equipment can be seen in large projects in Europe, Germany, the United States, Korea and other top-ranking waste plastics chemical recycling industries. The technology has been verified through the stable operation of several large projects, and its maturity and stability have been recognized by global partners.