Milan-based Saipem, a global provider of integrated basic and detailed onshore engineering, procurement, project management, and construction services and chemical producer Garbo, headquartered in Cerano have announced that they have agreed to collaborate on the industrialisation, further development and commercialisation of Garbo’s proprietary chemical recycling technology, known as ChemPET. The two companies have signed an agreement which also provides for the construction of an industrial scale plant based on the technology in Cerano, in the province of Novara.
And, said Guido Fragiacomo, CEO of Garbo: “This agreement allows ChemPET to consolidate its technology leadership in crPET through the immediate industrialisation of the two 22.5 kTA units in Cerano and the licensing of the technology on a global scale”.
ChemPET is a depolymerisation technology based on innovative glycolysis process and developed by Garbo in collaboration with the University of Modena and Bologna. The process enables plastic waste, including coloured plastics, to be processed that cannot be mechanically recycled.
During the ChemPet process, PET is converted into an intermediate product called BHET (bis-hydroxy-ethylene-terephthalate) which, once it has been properly purified, is suitable for producing new near-virgin PET plastic, thus avoiding the need for virgin raw materials.
The process and its byproducts are easily managed. No flammable or hazardous substances are used.
"This agreement is in line with Saipem's strategy in the low carbon industrial segments and it enables us to enrich our portfolio of technologies and solutions for the circular economy and the sustainable chemical industry,” said Saipem CCO Fabrizio Botta.