Novoloop starts building pilot chemical recycling plant in India

California-based Novoloop has broken ground on its pilot plant in India. The 24/7 demonstration facility will aim to pave the way for full-scale production of thermoplastic polyurethane using Novoloop’s chemical recycling technology.

Novoloop has developed a proprietary process called ATOD - short for Accelerated Thermal Oxidative Decomposition - that breaks down polyethylene, the most widely used plastic today, into chemical building blocks that can be synthesised into high-value products. Novoloop refers to its ATOD technology as Lifecycling.

“Lifecycling is a form of chemical recycling, and it’s our brand of chemical upcycling – converting low-value waste into high-value materials,” Brad Martin, head of sales at Novoloop, told Sustainable Plastics.

Lifecycling is a ‘first-of-a-kind process’, Martin added, different from conventional depolymerisation and pyrolysis.

“Lifecycling is a controlled oxidation process. It uses oxygen to break down polyethylene (PE) waste into high-value monomers, namely dicarboxylic acids,” Martin explained. Because Novoloop’s technology does not break down PE into its original monomer, ethylene, it is not a form of depolymerisation.

On the other hand, the process is also not a form of pyrolysis because it produces monomers, not oil, and ‘has much lower energy requirements’, according to Martin.

An ISO-compliant lifecycle assessment has reportedly shown that Novoloop monomers have a carbon footprint reduction of up to 91% when compared to the conventional process of producing adipic acid.

The new pilot facility is being built in stages, with initial operations set to start in the first quarter of 2024. The final plant is expected to have an input capacity of 70 tonnes by the end of 2024. Products generated from this pilot plant will be made available to customers for trial and commercial release.

The facility will be integrated with those of Aether Industries, an India-based chemical manufacturer. Operations at Aether will validate key techno-economic aspects such as product yield and recovery rates, demonstrating the financial attractiveness of Novoloop's proprietary technology.

“The integrated pilot plant, mirroring our full-scale commercial process design, marks a pivotal advancement in technology readiness,” Nedim Hasanbegovic, VP of Engineering at Novoloop, said in a statement.