BASF and Texas-based circular chemicals manufacturer Encina have inked a long-term supply contract for chemically recycled benzene.
Encina manufacturers the circular aromatics from post-consumer plastics. BASF will use the ISSC-Plus certified polymer buildings blocks to replace fossil feedstock in its Ccycled range of products.
“The use of benzene derived from post-consumer plastics as raw material in BASF’s value chains underscores our ongoing commitment to transition towards non-fossil and circular alternatives,” said Thomas Ohlinger, vice president traded products at BASF. “Through our partnership with Encina, we drive BASF’s transformation by increasing recycling-based feedstocks to offer more Ccycled products to our customers, for example in the packaging, textile and automotive industries,” he added.
Encina’s proprietary catalytic technology produces drop-in quality and high yield circular feedstocks. In a recent interview with Sustainable Plastics, the company’s CEO David Roesser explained how its technology differs from the competition.
Encina has a team that is responsible for actively sourcing feedstocks - end-of-life plastics that would otherwise be sent to landfills or incinerated. It also has an engineering team to develop these into the products the company produces.
“Also, our conversion is different than a lot of others that are doing pilots,” said David Roesser. As he observed, many others are taking plastics, heating them up to obtain pyro-oil, which then goes into another cracker to be made into chemicals.
“We do it all in one step. We use a plastics fluidised bed cracking unit - a typical cracking unit that a large oil company would use. It’s a similar technology but modified for plastic. We also use a similar catalyst, but it's been modified for plastics and for turning these into high yield aromatic products. It is very unique right now in the industry. I don't believe anybody else is doing this.”
The process is more efficient and environmentally friendly, as it enables circularity as well as lower greenhouse gas emissions and a reduced carbon footprint.
Encina currently has an ISCC+-certified product development unit in San Antonio, Texas, that it has used to iron out any wrinkles in the technology in terms of char and catalyst use, according to Roesser. The company is in the process of building its first commercial-scale facility in Township, Pennsylvania, that is scheduled to go into production by the end of 2027. Encina is also moving ahead with plans for a plant down in the Gulf Coast of the US.