Shell says its chemical recycling goals are ‘unfeasible’

Shell will no longer pursue its goal of turning 1 million tonnes of plastic waste into pyrolysis oil by 2025, the British oil giant said in its 2023 Sustainability report.

The 98-page report, published in March, dedicates a third of a page to the topic of chemical recycling. In it, Shell reveals that whilst it sees customer demand for circular chemicals, ‘the pace of growth globally is less than expected due to lack of available feedstock, slow technology development, and regulatory uncertainty. As a result, in 2023 we concluded that the scale of our ambition to turn 1 million tonnes of plastic waste a year into pyrolysis oil by 2025 is unfeasible.’

Shell is currently building two pyrolysis upgrader units, each with a 50,000 tonnes/year planned capacity. One is situated in Shell Chemicals Park Moerdijk, the Netherlands, and the other at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Singapore. The Singapore plant was scheduled to start production in 2023 and the Netherlands facility in 2024, but neither is yet in operation. Their combined capacity would be 100,000 tonnes/year, just 10% of Shell’s 1 million pledge.

The company started investing in chemical recycling in 2019, entering into a pyrolysis oil supply agreement with Nexus Fuels for use in Shell’s chemical plants in Louisiana, United States. Since then, it has entered agreements with BlueAlp, Pryme, Environmental Solutions Asia, Remondis, Dialog Group Berhad, Sepco Industries, Freepoint Eco-Systems, Agilyx, PreZero, Lamor Recycling, LBC Tank Terminals, and Braskem.

Despite backtracking on its chemical recycling ambitions, Shell said it ‘continues working with partners across the plastic waste value chain to help develop a circular value chain globally’, the report reads. It pointed to the ‘several strategic co-operation agreements’ it signed with partners in 2023, including the one with Pre-Zero.  

Shell is not the first company struggling to meet its chemical recycling ambitions. Agilyx and AmSty, for example, lost $4.5 million in their polystyrene chemical recycling joint venture since 2021, leading to its closure in April this year.

Last November, a report by US-based Beyond Plastics concluded that chemical recycling is not a viable solution to plastic pollution problems. The report noted that the 11 chemical recycling facilities in operation in the United States are handling an ‘insignificant amount of plastics waste’, and that many are ‘struggling to create a profitable product’.

The chemical recycling industry has charged back at such reports by pointing out that many chemical recycling technologies are in use today and produce new plastics.

Like Shell, many point to regulatory uncertainty and lack – or, more accurately, expensive - feedstock as reasons for slow progress.

Both chemical and mechanical recyclers have been struggling with falling recyclate prices, cheaper virgin alternatives, competition with imports, and a tight macroeconomic situation across the globe.

Whilst many see the introduction of recycled content targets in European legislation as a potential lifeline, recycled plastic attributed via a mass balance method does not currently count towards targets.

At this year’s Plastics Recycling Show Europe (PRSE), Werner Bosmans, Team Leader on Plastics, DG Environment, at the European Commission revealed that a ‘vast majority’ of member states are in favour of mass balance.

However, regulatory change at EU-level is a lengthy process – in the meantime, chemical recyclers will continue facing uncertainty.