Borealis and Renasci Oostende Recycling NV have signed a deal giving Borealis exclusive access to the chemically recycled output from Renasci’s advanced recycling plant at Oostened, in Belgium.
The plant has a projected output of 20kT/year, which Borealis will use to help fulfil market demand for chemically recycled polyolefins while at the same time transforming itself into one of the leading global suppliers of chemically recycled base chemicals and polyolefins.
The company is marketing its portfolio of materials based on chemically recycled feedstock under the name Borcycle C. “The cooperation with Renasci allows us to offer our customers and partners virgin-like polyolefins from chemically recycled post-consumer waste in material quantities effective this quarter,” said Lucrèce Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Innovation & Technology and Circular Economy Solutions.
Chemical recycling can serve as a complementary technology to mechanical recycling processes. Mixed and contaminated plastic waste streams that have traditionally been ‘unrecyclable’ can be transformed into a feedstock from which new materials with properties that are indistinguishable from virgin materials can be produced. High-end polyolefin-based applications become possible, including healthcare and food packaging materials subject to stringent quality and safety regulations that cannot always be met using mechanically recycled materials.
Renasci’s ISCC PLUS-certified recycling centre mainly processes dried household waste as well as some industrial waste. At the plant, the waste that is suitable for mechanical recycling is first sorted out after which the rest undergoes Renasci’s plastics-to-chemicals process, producing a chemically recycled feedstock that is subsequently processed in the Borealis steam crackers. Initially , this will take place at Borealis’ production location in Porvoo, Finland. The Porvoo site’s recent ISCC PLUS certification – the global standard for certified recycled and bio-based materials – enables mass balance production of renewable and chemically recycled products.
“Our agreement with Renasci is a welcome complement to the OMV ReOil chemical recycling project,” explained Martijn van Koten, Borealis Executive Vice President Base Chemicals and Operations, who has also noticed a strong increase in demand for chemically recycled products. The offtake agreement with Renasci will now enable Borealis and OMV to significantly increase the supply of these circular base chemicals and polyolefins.
As a polyolefin producer, Borealis is committed to the development of circular polyolefin solutions. The company is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, employs 6,900 employees and operates in over 120 countries. In 2020, Borealis generated EUR 6.8 billion in sales revenue and a net profit of EUR 589 million. OMV, the Austria-based international oil and gas company, owns 75% of Borealis, while the remaining 25% is owned by a holding company of the Abu-Dhabi based Mubadala.