Technological watch

Ravago, Neste partner up to build Netherlands chemical recycling plant

VLISSINGEN, Netherlands—Materials supplier Ravago SA and renewable energy firm Neste will work together to build a chemical recycling plant in the Netherlands.

In a news release, officials said that the plant at the North Sea Port in Vlissingen "is intended to be the starting point" of joint global chemical recycling activities.

The efforts build on technology developed by Akron, Ohio-based Alterra Energy. Both Ravago and Neste are minority investors in Alterra.

Officials added that through the project, Neste of Helsinki and Luxembourg-based Ravago plan to demonstrate and advance the commercialization of chemical recycling. The partnership combines Ravago's expertise in mechanical preparation of plastic waste with Alterra Energy's proprietary thermochemical liquefaction technology and Neste's expertise in the processing of hydrocarbons, they said.

The plant will have annual processing capacity of about 120 million pounds of mixed plastic waste, equal to the plastic packaging waste generated by 1.7 million people per year.

"The long-term hope of the partners is to significantly increase processing capacity on a global scale and continuously develop the joint venture into a global leader for chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste," officials said.

"We are truly excited about the progress of our joint project work," Ravago CEO Theo Roussis said in the release. "By fixing the investment location and scope, we are again one step closer to turning our dream into reality."

"Together with Neste, we have the necessary ingredients for a successful recipe to create scalable solutions, converting non-recyclable waste streams into valuable end products," he added.

Neste Executive Vice President Mercedes Alonso added that chemical recycling "has been a promising technology to accelerate the creation of a circular economy for quite a while…Now, it is time to take it to the next level and turn the promise into an industrial solution."

By combining the expertise of Ravago and Neste, Alonoso said the joint venture "has the means to rapidly implement the technology to start production at commercial scale."

"Our ambition is clear: To be a global leader in renewable and circular solutions," she added.

Publication date: 21/10/2021

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This project has been co-funded with the support of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union [LIFE17 ENV/ES/000438] Life programme

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Last update: 2022-01-31