Thailand-based SCGC announced it is considering expanding its chemical recycling demonstration plant to commercial scale.
Circular Plas, a subsidiary of the chemicals company, built the 4,000 tonnes/year pyrolysis plant in Rayong province, Thailand, in 2021. The country's first chemical recycling plant produced the first on-spec recycled polypropylene in February 2022. In January of the same year, SCGC and Japan-based Toyo Engineering signed a Memorandum of Understanding to improve the processes for converting post-consumer waste at the ISCC-Plus certified plant.
Toyo has since been using its expertise in reactor design to adapt Circular Plas’ technology to handle the variable nature of post-consumer plastic waste. Circular Plas's pyrolysis technology uses proprietary multifunctional materials in the liquefaction process to reduce temperature, resulting in higher yields of light cracked oils and a reduced environmental footprint.
The companies have now announced they have developed a new pyrolysis reactor that should be demonstrated at plant in early 2025. The reactor is expected to improve continuous-operations and increase the facility’s capacity. The companies said will move the plant closer to the target of commercialisation.
This May, SCGC and US-based chemicals company Dow signed a Memorandum of Understanding to transform 200,000 tonnes/year of plastic waste into circular products by 2030 in the Asia Pacific region.