US recycler Freepoint Eco-Systems (Stamford, Connecticut; www.freepointecosystems.com) has announced the start of construction for its first commercial chemical recycling plant for plastic waste. One of the world’s largest plants of its kind is to be built on 25 hectares in Hebron, Ohio. Financial details were not disclosed.

The input rate of the ISCC Plus-certified plant was cited at 90,000 t/y, and commissioning is planned for mid-2024. The site is expected to create 70 jobs, Freepoint CEO Jeff McMahon said at the groundbreaking.

The entire quantity of pyrolysis oil produced there is to be sold to petrochemical giant Shell (London; www.shell.com), with the two companies signing a corresponding, long-term supply contract at the beginning of the year. Shell plans to use the resulting pyrolysis oil at its US-based Shell Norco Manufacturing Complex west of New Orleans, said Phil Turley, managing director at subsidiary Plastic Circularity Shell.

Last year, Freepoint, TotalEnergies (Paris; www.totalenergies.com) and chemical recycling specialist Plastic Energy (London; www.plasticenergy.com) announced the construction of a US pyrolysis plant with an input rate of 33,000 t/y, which is scheduled to start operations in mid-2024 (see Plasteurope.com of 23.11.2021).