1. A lot of chemical recyclers like to point out feedstock flexibility as a great benefit of the technology, but that can also introduce high levels of contamination and therefore affect quality. By how much can your refining process improve yield?
Feedstock flexibility starts with a robust liquefaction technology that can manage mixed and contaminated waste plastic streams without losing efficiency. At Neste’s refinery, we contribute to feedstock flexibility by removing contaminants from the liquefied waste plastic oils, and by optimizing the chemical composition to match the requirements of downstream petrochemical processes. We aim to be the most flexible offtaker of oils and to produce a drop-in steam cracker feed for our customers. By bridging the quality gap between liquefaction and steam cracking, refinery upgrading can enable scaling up use and improve yield towards material applications.
2. What steps is Neste taking to reduce the environmental impact of the pyrolysis purification process?
One important way to reduce the environmental impact of refinery upgrading is to maximize use of existing assets and infrastructure, instead of building new ones. In Neste’s EU Innovation Fund backed project PULSE, we implement proprietary technologies and integrate them to our Porvoo refinery to scale up our processing capabilities for liquefied waste plastic oils. We are also reducing the environmental impact of our refinery processes, for example, by sourcing 100% renewable electricity, increasing electrification and building capacity for renewable hydrogen. Our goal is to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030, and to reach carbon neutral production by 2035.
3. By when do you think there will be enough volume of pyrolysis oil to allow your technology to be scaled up?
It is clear that to meet the designated EU targets on recycling, the whole chemical recycling sector needs to accelerate building capacity. While liquefaction investments are still emerging, Neste is already gradually scaling up its capacity to process a broader range of liquefied waste plastic oils. Last year, we made the final investment decision for the first phase of PULSE, which is expected to add 150.000 tons of annual processing capacity in the course of 2025. In total, PULSE is targeting 400.000 tons of annual capacity. By adding flexible offtake demand, we are making liquefaction investments more attractive as we ensure there is an outlet and capacity for upgrading every drop of product. Neste also contributes to building liquefaction capacity by offering its partners reliable technology: Neste holds the rights to license Alterra’s proprietary liquefaction technology in Europe.
4. What lessons have you learnt from integrating your technology into an existing oil refinery?
Neste has been refining liquefied waste plastic oils to high-quality petrochemical feed since 2020, and by the end of last year, we had processed more than 6,000 tons in total. Working in close collaboration with multiple suppliers from several countries, we’ve learned a lot about the range of varying quality characteristics, processing behaviour, safety aspects, logistics requirements and certifications relating to liquefied waste plastic oils. In integrating our technologies to the Porvoo refinery, we have leveraged these learnings as well as the broad range of expertise that Neste has on engineering and executing major refinery projects globally.
5. If you had to pick one sustainability trend that will drop off the agenda by 2030, what would it be?
I hope in the next six years we’ll gain more regulatory clarity on some of the concepts that are currently on top of the agenda. But I don’t actually believe any of the sustainability trends will drop off the agenda as such - quite the contrary: an even broader variety of topics will likely emerge. Personally, looking at the polymers and chemicals industry, I wish we’d stop talking about decarbonization. Let’s face it, you can’t decarbonize chemistry! Instead, we should talk about defossilization – enabling the sustainability transformation from fossil to renewable and circular materials.