Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Plastics2Olefins (Recycling plastic waste into high-value materials- Closing the Loop)
Reporting period: 2023-12-01 to 2025-05-31
The EU committed to reduce GHG emission significant until 2050. Post-Consumer Plastic waste (PCP) has a significant CO2 emission in its life cycle and is mainly made from fossil raw material. Mechanical recycling has its limitations, therefore over two third of PCP is incinerated or landfilled and lost for circular economy. Here Plastics2Olefins is closing the gap by renew mechanical non-recyclable PCP via chemical recycling. In RP1, significant progress was made feedstock selection and quality of the pyrolysis output stream, so that the pyrolysis gas can now be used in established refinery plants. The Plastics2Olefins project is therefore achieving both, a global impact by demonstrating the use of feedstock from in- and outside of the European Union and by massive investments inside Europe and strengthening the local economy in structurally weak regions.
The P2O project achieved significant progress in the feedstock selection and gas purification (work packages 2 and 3), in which challenges were resolved by the beneficiaries and excellent results were obtained. Furthermore, a techno-economic feasibility assessment was made for the renewable energy management and a scenario ensuring full energy supply by renewable sources was selected, ensuring the projects goal to achieve a GHG avoidance of 60% of the plastics life cycle. This ensures that the Plastics2Olefins project will reach the highest possible reduction of GHG emissions.
The Plastics2Olefins project is divided in two technical fields: upstream and downstream of the pyrolysis process. preparation and feeding of the largely variable waste plastics and the removal of the high level of contaminants and substances in the pyrolysis gas (heavy metals, sulphur compounds, halogens, etc.) before the product can be further processed. During RP1, the pretreatment of the plastics wastes and pyrolysis process was optimized. As well, the pyrolysis gas can be feed into existing petrochemical plants (steam cracker), with a previous upgrading to remove some contaminants present in the pyrolysis gas.