Switzerland-based Enespa has acquired a 40% stake in Finnish chemical recycling start-up PlastEco.
The builder and operator of chemical recycling plants will deliver a pyrolysis plant to PlastEco’s headquarters in Lahti, Finland, as part of the new partnership.
The first module of the plant is expected to process 5 tonnes of plastic waste per day and start operations in April 2025. The partners said they have already secured a buyer for the plant’s entire expected output, who is also ready to scale up procurement as production expands.
Enespa plans to deliver additional plants to PlastEco on an annual basis and expand existing capacities.
PlastEco claims on its website that its chemical recycling technology ‘produces 1,000 liters of clean pyrolysis oil from 1,000 kilograms of plastic waste, which is completely reusable as a raw material to plastics’.
“In Enespa Group we believe we have found the perfect partner to bring our vision of a sustainable circular economy to life. Delivery of the first plant represents the start of extensive collaboration,” said Kari Larjava, CEO of PlastEco.
PlastEco will be responsible for procuring feedstock locally, thereby minimising operating costs and supporting resource-efficient logistics.
In 2021, Enespa and Germany-based Biofabrik Technologies announced plans to build a modular 60,000 tonnes/year pyrolysis plant near Dresden, Germany. There have been no updates on the progress of the project since.