Shell, Thai chemical recycler sign pyrolysis oil feedstock agreement

Oil giant Shell and Bangkok-based chemical recycler Corsair have signed a pyrolysis oil feedstock agreement.

Corsair operates a chemical recycling facility in Bangkok with an output of around 1 million litres of pyrolysis oil a month. It converts daily household plastic waste into what it calls advanced bio-oil.

The feedstock will be delivered to Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Singapore, Shell’s only energy and chemicals park in Asia. Shell is building a pyrolysis oil upgrader unit at the Pulau Bukom facility, which it expects to be the largest in Asia with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year.

The pyrolysis oil will be used to manufacture chemicals typically used in a wide variety of products, according to Corsair, including cleaning products, textiles, and food packaging.

"At Shell, we believe chemical recycling offers a valuable and viable way to complement mechanical recycling measures and is needed to achieve the higher recycling rates that are a must for the reduction of waste plastic into the environment,” said Phil Turley, General Manager of Global Plastic Circular Economy at Shell.

Shell plans to process 1 million tonnes of plastic waste globally by 2025. Corsair has recently expanded into Europe, opening an office in Amsterdam. In addition to its industrial operations as a plastic waste recycler, Corsair is also the developer and issuer of the CSR Plastic Credit.