As part of an ongoing project to advance chemical recycling technology, olefins and polyolefins giant Ineos (London / UK; www.ineos.com) and recycling think-tank Plastic Energy (London; www.plasticenergy.com) are planning to use the Petroineos (www.petroineos.com) refinery in Glasgow / UK for a trial run of Plastic Energy’s process to convert waste packing into new virgin-quality polymer. Petroineos is a joint venture of Ineos and PetroChina.

The partnership’s initial plans for development and deployment of the new conversion technology announced in 2020 (see Plasteurope.com of 29.04.2020) foresaw construction of a commercial-scale recycling facility at an as-yet-undetermined location in Europe as the end-target, with start-up pencilled in for the end of 2023. In their latest communication, the companies suggested that, depending on the results of the trial and the “evolution of the policy environment”, the commercial facility could be built in the UK.

Beginning in the current first quarter of 2022, Plastic Energy’s Tacoil, a synthetic oil made with its proprietary process, will be fed into the refinery operating system and replace crude oil. Petroineos ultimately will supply the output to Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe, which will use it to manufacture a certified circular plastic resin with properties identical to those of conventional materials made from fossil resources.

Peter Grant, business director at Ineos Olefins & Polymers (UK) Europe, called the refinery project “a further positive step” along the journey toward eliminating waste and enabling circular economy solutions. Advanced recycling, he said, adds to the existing initiatives within the chemicals and plastics producer’s portfolio – including mechanical recycling – to make greater use of post-consumer material and ensure that sustainable solutions meet all safety, quality, and performance in-use standards.

For Carlos Monreal, founder and CEO of Plastic Energy, the trial in Scotland “exemplifies a strong partnership between companies working together to take big strides to reduce plastics waste in the UK”.

Plastic Energy currently operates two recovery plants in Spain using its process. It also has partnerships with other chemicals and plastics producers, in Europe with Saudi Arabia’s Sabic (Riyadh; www.sabic.com), aimed at leveraging its knowhow in recycling end-of-life plastics. In November last year the company announced a new partnership in the US (see Plasteurope.com of 23.11.2021).