Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SynOil (Taking SynOil to the market: Synthetic oil (SynOil) from plastic waste with the molten zinc reactor)
Période du rapport: 2019-11-01 au 2020-04-30
The main objective of the SynOil Horizon 2020 SME Phase 1 project is to establish the technical and commercial feasibility for the European and worldwide commercialization of Composite Recycling Ltd’s (CRL) waste plastic recycling process.
Globally only 9% of the waste plastic stream is recycled, leaving up to 80% that is either landfilled, incinerated or accumulates in the environment. In 2011 the EU member states exported nearly half of the plastic waste collected for recycling or 3 million tons to Asia, mostly to China. In the UK just over 500,000 tonnes of household plastic were collected in 2015. Both statistics clearly indicate the scale of the collected non-recyclable waste plastics in the EU, the UK and indeed worldwide. No shortage of mixed, non-recyclable plastics waste is predicted. On the contrary, the global plastic production currently standing at some 400 million tons per year, and in tandem plastic waste, is predicted to double till 2035 as plastic is such a useful material.
The SynOil project investigates the technical and economic feasibility of a commercial scale mixed plastic waste pyrolysis process, which uses molten metal to pyrolyse plastic waste. The aim of the economic analysis is to determine under which conditions a SynOil plant is financially viable. The financial performance of a 40,000 t/y SynOil plant located in Belgium is analysed. The capital expenditure is estimated to be €20.8m or €27.0m if the cost of capital is included. The operating expenditures (OPEX) of the plant are estimated €2.9m per year. An IRR of 20% and an NPV of €1.47m strongly indicate that a 40,000 t/y SynOil plant is financially interesting for private investors achieving all business criteria of success: (1) the SynOil plant is economic with an IRR of over 20% with oil prices at a 15-year low of August 2015, (2) a reliable, ample supply of waste plastic is available and (3) reliable, accessible markets for all products i.e. P-oil, are available. The market and sensitivity analysis showed six main variables determining the economic viability of a SynOil plant: (1) the addressable volume and quality of plastic waste, (2) the feedstock costs, (3) the capital and operating expenditures, (4) the revenues from the sale of the P-oil, (5) the tipping fees and (6) the potential to co-locate the plant with a municipal waste plastic sorting facility.
Globally only 9% of the waste plastic stream is recycled, leaving up to 80% that is either landfilled, incinerated or accumulates in the environment. In 2011 the EU member states exported nearly half of the plastic waste collected for recycling or 3 million tons to Asia, mostly to China. In the UK just over 500,000 tonnes of household plastic were collected in 2015. Both statistics clearly indicate the scale of the collected non-recyclable waste plastics in the EU, the UK and indeed worldwide. No shortage of mixed, non-recyclable plastics waste is predicted. On the contrary, the global plastic production currently standing at some 400 million tons per year, and in tandem plastic waste, is predicted to double till 2035 as plastic is such a useful material.
The SynOil project investigates the technical and economic feasibility of a commercial scale mixed plastic waste pyrolysis process, which uses molten metal to pyrolyse plastic waste. The aim of the economic analysis is to determine under which conditions a SynOil plant is financially viable. The financial performance of a 40,000 t/y SynOil plant located in Belgium is analysed. The capital expenditure is estimated to be €20.8m or €27.0m if the cost of capital is included. The operating expenditures (OPEX) of the plant are estimated €2.9m per year. An IRR of 20% and an NPV of €1.47m strongly indicate that a 40,000 t/y SynOil plant is financially interesting for private investors achieving all business criteria of success: (1) the SynOil plant is economic with an IRR of over 20% with oil prices at a 15-year low of August 2015, (2) a reliable, ample supply of waste plastic is available and (3) reliable, accessible markets for all products i.e. P-oil, are available. The market and sensitivity analysis showed six main variables determining the economic viability of a SynOil plant: (1) the addressable volume and quality of plastic waste, (2) the feedstock costs, (3) the capital and operating expenditures, (4) the revenues from the sale of the P-oil, (5) the tipping fees and (6) the potential to co-locate the plant with a municipal waste plastic sorting facility.
The main work performed was to establish the technical and commercial feasibility for the European and worldwide commercialization of Composite Recycling Ltd’s (CRL) waste plastic recycling process or plant, named SynOil in this report. The technical feasibility was relatively straightforward. The economic feasibility, however, was not and took more effort than expected. Ultimately, both the technical and economic feasibility was established to our and, equally important, investors satisfaction. Another large amount of work went into a demonstration plant, which is the next logical step in bringing SynOil to the market. Investment is required for such a plant. The search for such investment is ongoing. Overall we have successfully verified the SynOil business plan. The exploitation of SynOil will follow the successful demonstration scale phase of SynOil.
The SynOil process is established by this project as an economic mixed waste plastic pyrolysis process, which is going beyond the state of the art. We are expecting to obtain investment into the next step i.e. a demonstration scale process soon. The societal implication of that could be large as mixed waste plastic can no longer be simply exported. Moreover, as the process is economic we believe it will prevent diversion of plastic into the oceans.