Plastics recycling technology company BlueAlp has signed an agreement with Recupero Etico Sostenibile (RES), a waste manager in Italy, to build the country’s first industrial-scale pyrolysis plant.
Based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, BlueAlp has developed a patented pyrolysis technology that generates pyrolysis oil from mixed plastic streams which are not currently mechanically recyclable.
BlueAlp will supply the technology licence and will engineer, procure, and fabricate the pyrolysis unit in its workshop in Eindhoven. RES will own and operate the plant to process and convert 20,000 tonnes of mixed plastic waste a year, including polyolefin film scraps. Operations are expected to start by mid-2026.
At RES’s location, the BlueAlp plant will be integrated into circular waste processing concept that converts the post-industrial and post-consumer waste into recycled products. The plastic waste stream will be in the form of granulates.
In the patented BlueAlp process this granulate is melted, homogenised and further decontaminated in an extruder before it enters the pyrolysis reaction system where the oil product is formed in a fully continuous manner at relatively low temperatures to minimise the formation of undesired byproducts.
Downstream of the reaction system, the oil can optionally be separated into individual fractions to meet the requirements of the end users who then transform it into the building blocks for recycled chemicals or polymers. The ratio between the different oil product fractions and their properties can be easily adjusted to the client’s needs, according to BlueAlp.
BlueAlp estimates that producing one litre of pyrolysis oil with its technology has 68% less impact on the environment compared with the production of a litre of fossil fuel.
The RES plant will be located in Pettoranello del Molise, in central Italy, where the company already operates a waste collection plant, a plastics mechanical recycling site, a composting facility, and a landfill.
"We are very proud to announce the signing of the agreement with BlueAlp that will lead to the construction of a new pyrolysis plant, the first in Italy in terms of size and investment,” said Antonio Lucio Valerio, CEO of RES. “RES will be the first national operator able to close the waste cycle, from the initial collection to the sale of the raw material resulting from the plastics processing. All of this in a defined area, respecting the surrounding environment, demonstrating the potential that waste can have when innovation marries commitment to reducing oil dependency and promoting the responsible use of resources,” he concluded.
*This article was updated on 16/05/2024 to include details about BlueAlp's technology provided by the company.