DNV, a Norway-based accredited certification body, has performed a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of PureCycle’s polypropylene (PP) solvent-based recycling plant, which will be built in Antwerp, Belgium. The LCA followed the ISO-14040/44 framework.
Based on the estimates from PureCycle’s flagship facility in Ironton, Ohio, and the energy grid in Belgium, the study found that the port of Antwerp facility will consume 86% less energy than global virgin PP production. Assessment data also indicates that the European facility is expected to reduce green-house gas emissions by 61% and reduce fossil-based resource usage by 64% when compared to virgin plastic.
“DNV’s LCA study shows that PureCycle’s future Antwerp plant, after incorporating the learnings from Ironton, should be much more carbon efficient than virgin plastic production,” said PureCycle’s VP of european operations Wiebe Schipper. ‘What I also like about DNV’s work is that it identifies focus areas for us to further enhance the carbon, energy and resource efficiency of our Antwerp operations’, he added, without disclosing the areas to be improved.
In 2022, a third party LCA study conducted by Boundless for PureCycle’s Ironton, Ohio plant projected the site would use 79% less energy and have 35% lower carbon emissions than new PP plastic.
PureCycle’s technology uses a generic hydrocarbon solvent, which is commonly used in home cleaning supplies. The solvent is repeatedly recovered and re-used in the patented purification process, which removes odours, colours, and contaminants from PP waste, yielding an ultrapure resin. The Antwerp facility is expected to have annual output of 59,000 tonnes.