Borealis has announced that it has acquired a majority shareholding in Renasci, the pioneering Belgian recycling company behind the creation of the Smart Chain Processing (SCP) concept.
The acquisition follows an initial 10% investment in the company announced by Borealis in July 2021. The present acquisition boosts that holding to 50.01%.
Renasci’s SCP concept is a proprietary method of maximising material recovery in order to achieve zero waste. The concept combines multiple compatible waste-treatment technologies, enabling an exceptionally high valorisation of waste. Diverse waste streams - plastics, metals, biomass - are sorted and processed all under the same roof using different recycling technologies. For plastic waste, these technologies are first mechanical recycled, after which any remaining material is chemically recycled into circular pyrolysis oil and lighter product fractions, which are used to fuel the process. According to the recycler, only 5% of the original waste remains as residual material in the end, which is then used as filler in construction materials. Because of this extremely efficient way of processing, the overall CO2 footprint of these waste streams is greatly reduced.
Renasci and its SCP concept are perfectly aligned to Borealis’ circular cascade model, noted Lucrèce Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President of Polyolefins, Circular Economy Solutions and Innovation & Technology. That model is ‘at the heart of our ambition to become circular in plastic and in carbon’, she added.
The present strategic investment will provide Borealis with an additional supply of the chemically recycled feedstock it requires to produce its Borcycle C portfolio of mass-balanced virgin-level grade recycled products, as well as access to key circular technologies.
Borealis has committed to achieving an ambitious six-fold increase in the volume of circular products and solutions - to 600 kilotonnes - by 2025, rising to 1.8 million tonnes by 2030.
The investment marks another milestone towards the realisation of Borealis’ Strategy 2030 goals, according to CEO Thomas Gangl.
“Our acquisition of a controlling stake in Renasci has the potential to unlock significant progress on circularity for our entire industry and is proof of the EverMinds spirit in action,” he said.
For Renasci, the investment is a signal of Borealis’ ongoing confidence in the Smart Chain Processing concept to drive circularity.
Borealis is ideally placed to develop and implement the SCP concept, as well as to leverage our combined technological capabilities to unlock further circular progress, said Gert Vanderseypen, general manager of Renasci.