Plastics producer Covestro (Leverkusen, Germany; www.covestro.com) is currently focusing on mechanical recycling in Asia: a plant for mechanically recycling PC is to be built in Shanghai at a cost of around EUR 27 mn. Once commissioned in 2023, the facility is to supply more than 25,000 t/y of PC and blends with mechanically recycled content via the connected compounding facility.

The firm said the plant will focus on post-consumer waste, including discarded and mechanically shredded polycarbonate refuse from five-gallon water bottles. “For this purpose, we have already been operating a cooperation with Chinese food company Nongfu Spring and recycling company Ausell for several years,” a company spokesperson told Plasteurope.com.

Related: PIE spoke with Covestro board member Sucheta Govil about plastics recycling, green energy and more

Covestro also plans to convert an existing compounding plant at its Map Ta Phut site in Thailand into a mechanical recycling facility. The conversion is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022. According to current forecasts, the plant is expected to supply up to 10% of its annual production volume on a PCR basis by 2030; information on the volume was not provided.

In total, the group aims to build capacity of more than 60,000 t of PC with recycled content in the Asia-Pacific region by 2026. Its post-consumer recycled grades Makrolon R and Bayblend R, which contain up to 75% recycled content, can be used, for example, to make electrical and electronic products, automotive parts, and consumer goods.

“The production line [in Shanghai] is another exciting step on the way to fully aligning ourselves with a circular economy and achieving our goal of becoming climate neutral by 2035,” said Sucheta Govil, Covestro board member for sales and marketing.