Neste, Alterra, Technip Energies to create ‘copy-paste solution’ for chemical recycling plants

A triad of technology leaders - Neste, Alterra and Technip Energies - will develop a standardised technology solution for chemical recycling based on Alterra’s proprietary liquefaction technology, it was announced today. The three have signed a collaboration agreement under which Alterra and Neste will serve as technology providers, with Technip Energies designing, engineering and delivering the plant solutions to parties interested in building capacity for chemical recycling.
Standardisation will be achieved through a modular approach: readily designed and engineered liquefaction plant modules will allow for lower pre-investment costs, accelerated implementation time, high predictability on project economics and reduced overall capital costs.
Alterra’s technology is a thermochemical liquefaction process, which converts hard-to-recycle plastics into a liquid hydrocarbon product. This liquid intermediate product can then be further refined into high-quality raw materials for new plastics and chemicals. It is a a proven technology for liquefaction that encompasses 15 years of research, development and improvement, said Frederic Schmuck, CEO at Alterra Energy.
“Now we are reducing the hurdles for companies interested in investing in liquefaction. We are ultimately enabling a copy-paste solution for liquefaction plants, allowing for a fast scale-up of economically viable recycling capacities globally.”
As of today, Neste alone has processed more than 6,000 tons of plastic-derived feeds, including ISCC Plus certified oil from Alterra’s industrial-scale site in Akron, Ohio.
“There is strong demand for more sustainable solutions, and we are ready to serve this demand,” said Andreas Teir, who is in charge of chemical recycling at Neste. “We are therefore looking forward to offering a robust and easy-to-deploy liquefaction technology to also contribute to meeting our own increasing demand for liquefied waste plastic.”
The present collaboration follows logically from the earlier partnerships between the companies. Alterra and Neste started collaborating in chemical recycling in 2021, jointly improving aspects of Alterra’s technology and creating respective value chains. Alterra and Technip Energies started their collaboration in chemical recycling in 2022.
“We have seen a recent trend in the circularity market wanting lower pre-investment costs and proven, in-use technology, while allowing adopters to maintain their 2030 climate commitments,” noted Bhaskar Patel, SVP Sustainable Fuels, Chemicals & Circularity at Technip Energies. “We are confident that this solution, along with Neste’s brand power and expected increasing demand for liquefied waste plastic, will contribute to fast deployment of new chemical recycling capacity.”