US polyolefin giant LyondellBasell (LYB, Houston, Texas; www.lyondellbasell.com) said it has for the first time made virgin quality polymers from raw materials derived from plastic waste at its site in Wesseling / Germany.

The company said, “Produced by the thermal conversion of plastic waste, this raw material is converted into ethylene and propylene in the LyondellBasell production facilities, and then processed into polypropylene and polyethylene in the downstream units for plastics production.” It says it has started commercial production of polymers using the feedstocks made from waste.

Products made from recycled and renewable-based raw materials are marketed under the company’s “Circulen” brand (see PIEWEb of 30.04.2021). The resin maker said it has pledged to reduce CO₂ emissions in its operations worldwide by 15% per tonne of product produced by 2030 compared with 2015 levels, and produce and market 2m t/y of recycled or renewable-based polymers by 2030.

The US group recently presented its boosted first-quarter results, with sales rising 21% to USD 9.08 bn (EUR 7.5 bn) and net income more than doubling to USD 1.1 bn (see Plasteurope.com of 07.05.2021).