Intecsa, gr3n to build world's first industrial-scale MADE PET recycling plant

Intecsa Industrial, a Spain-based internationally-operating engineering company with expertise in the turn-key execution of industrial plants and gr3n, a Swiss PET chemical recycler have entered into a binding Memorandum of Understanding to establish a joint venture to build an industrial scale recycling facility in Spain. As a shareholder in gr3n, Intecsa sees the technology developed by the recycling company as having the ‘potential to change the recycling industry’, according to Ramiro Prieto, Commercial and New Business Units Director at Intecsa Industrial. “Their technology allows us to tackle things other technologies cannot,” he said.

Their technology, called MADE - Microwave Assisted Depolymerisation - will be used to build a ‘First-of-a-Kind’ manufacturing facility, commencing the EPC phase in Q4-2024. gr3n SA and Intecsa Industrial intend to produce 40,000 tons of recycled PET per year by 2027. The technology is capable of processing PET from various industries including textile waste, closing the loop for hard to recycle PET applications.

“This is a huge step for gr3n, as it will allow us to grow even more, showing enhanced recycling is something tangible and that it is possible to bring MADE, our Microwave Assisted Depolymerization, to market,” said Maurizio Crippa, gr3n founder and CEO. Many previous efforts by companies to transfer enhanced recycling from the research laboratory to manufacturing scale have for the most been stalled by the economics - and skepticism of the first adopters.

“Shareholders have the full view on gr3n’s operations, so moving forward with one of them is further confirmation of their trust but also of the strength of the data and the results generated,” emphasised Crippa

The MADE technology developed by gr3n has the potential to provide a reliable enhanced recycling solution that closes the PET loop, results in food grade polymer material, processes a large variety of waste and reduces the carbon footprint of materials usually destined for incineration or landfill.

The wide range of PET waste  able to be processed by the technology expands the amount of raw material available as feedstock, Prieto pointed out, which accelerates ‘the transition to the circular economy’. Post- consumer and/or post-industrial bottles - colored, colorless, transparent, opaque -  and textiles, whether 100% polyester or mixtures containing up to 30% other materials such as PU, cotton, polyether, polyurea - are all suitable feedstock for the process.

“As an industrial partner and shareholder, we are part of the board - but we have also had the opportunity to perform the basic engineering of the industrial plant, thus we are well acquainted with the technology which we firmly believe is now ready to level up.”

“At Intecsa we are convinced that this will be a game changer,” added Ernesto De La Serna, director of new developments and innovation at Intecsa Industrial.

The technical concept of the MADE plant is to break PET down into its main monomers, in a process based on the application of microwave technology to alkaline hydrolysis, providing an economically viable approach to PET recycling. It breaks down any type of PET and polyester plastic into its two core components - PTA and MEG monomers - which can then be re-assembled to obtain virgin-like plastics allowing endless recycling loops. This new process has the potential to change how PET is recycled worldwide, with huge benefits both for the recycling industry and for the entire polyester value chain.

The polymers obtained from the process can be used to produce new products, essentially completely displacing feedstock material from fossil fuels, and potentially achieving bottle-to-textile, textile-to-textile, or even textile-to-bottle recycling in a circular system.

The company said its goal is to become the world-leading supplier of recycled PET and polyester, addressing the global need for virgin plastics and triggering a truly circular approach to plastic recycling.