Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Plastics News
Subscribe
  • Newsletters
  • Login
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • News
    • Recycling
    • Sustainability
    • Bioplastics
    • Technology & Materials
    • Injection Moulding
    • Blow Moulding
    • Extrusion
    • Thermoforming
    • 3D printing
    • Technology
    • Materials
    • Machinery
  • Opinion
    • View Point
  • Events
    • Our Exhibitions
    • Plastics Industry Awards (PIA)
    • Ask the Expert
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • Plastics News Europe Live Archives
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Recycling Show Europe
    • Plastics Recycling Show Middle East & Africa
  • Prices & Resources
    • Polymer Prices
    • Data Reports
    • Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Media Pack
  • Subscribe
  • Digital magazine
    • Digital Magazine
  • Multimedia
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
February 15, 2022 12:21 PM

Number of planned chemical recycling projects rises astronomically

Commercialisation still an ongoing process

Karen Laird
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    chemical recycling

    A new trend study from German consulting company ecoprog GmbH has revealed that at the end of 2021, there were over 90 projects for chemical recycling in various stages of development worldwide. Over 20 plants were in operation, although, the study said, most were not commercial plants but mainly served to advance the knowledge of this technology.

    Chemical recycling is a topic of controversial debate within the waste management sector. Supporters argue that in the future, chemical recycling will allow plastics of all kinds to be recycled without downcycling. The various technologies have in common that they enable contaminated and mixed waste streams that currently cannot be recycled mechanically to be recycled, thus considerably expanding the range of potentially circular plastics.

    Critics mainly find fault with the high CO2 emission rates associated with chemical recycling. They also fear that waste streams are being diverted from a more climate-friendly mechanical recycling process in order to be chemically processed.

    Controversy aside, the chemical recycling space is a dynamic one, with currently over 90 new projects planned, the overwhelming majority of which are in Europe. This market development is being driven, said the study, by the potential to recycle a far broader range and quality of plastics combined with the various quotas and targets for recyclability and recycled content use. However, for this to truly impact on these targets, chemical recycling must first be recognised in the waste hierarchy, the study points out - something the new German Traffic-light coalition is reportedly strongly in favour of. Also, planned projects are not the same as executed projects, especially where investments of the magnitude needed for the realisation of a chemical recycling plant are concerned.

    Moreover, challenges, such as high energy consumption and uncertainty regarding various technical issues, remain to be overcome.  This relates in particular to the purification of the output from depolymerisation, such as pyrolysis oil, from contaminants and additives. The discussion about the political classification of chemical recycling is other factor threatening to hinder its implementation.

    The report nonetheless concludes that chemical recycling is ‘a potential key technology in the future production of plastics’, able to generate ‘large market shares’ in the coming years.

    These technologies will therefore mainly affect the business model of today’s raw materials producers and the mineral oil industry, which currently supplies the fossil-based building blocks for the plastics industry to these raw materials producers.

    This explains the interest of these companies in chemical recycling and why they are the ones that are particularly active in exploring these technologies.

    Other active players in the sector are waste management companies  - who provide the waste material streams required - and start-ups, whose founding ideas relate to the technical aspects of the process.

    "Trend Study – Chemical Recycling" by ecoprog examines the technical fundamentals, market factors, development status, plant inventory, projects and competition in the field of chemical recycling worldwide. The study is available at: www.ecoprog.de

    Newsletters
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Sustainable Plastics' news delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    SUBSCRIBE
    Sustainable Plastics Media Kit Cover

    Subscriptions to Sustainable Plastics, the leading Pan-European magazine for the circular plastics industry.

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

    "In a changing world, Sustainable Plastics is a constant: a platform the plastics industry can rely on to deliver the news and knowhow impacting the industry going forward”

    Contact Us

    11 Ironmonger Lane, EC2V 8EY
    United Kingdom 
     

    Customer Service:
    1-313-446-0450

    [email protected]

     

    Resources
    • Advertise
    • Sitemap
    • Careers
    • Subscribe
    Affiliates
    • Plastics News
    • LSR World
    • Urethanes Technology
    • Tire Business
    • Rubber News
    • Automotive News
    • Automotive News Europe
    • Crain Publications
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Recycling
      • Sustainability
      • Bioplastics
      • Technology & Materials
        • Injection Moulding
        • Blow Moulding
        • Extrusion
        • Thermoforming
        • 3D printing
        • Technology
        • Materials
        • Machinery
    • Opinion
      • View Point
    • Events
      • Our Exhibitions
        • Plastics Recycling Show Europe
        • Plastics Recycling Show Middle East & Africa
      • Plastics Industry Awards (PIA)
      • Ask the Expert
      • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • Plastics News Europe Live Archives
      • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Prices & Resources
      • Polymer Prices
      • Data Reports
      • Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
    • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Media Pack
    • Subscribe
    • Digital magazine
      • Digital Magazine
    • Multimedia