Alterra and Neste partner to commercialize waste plastic liquefaction technology in Europe

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF. 

Neste has announced that it has acquired a minority stake in Alterra Energy, a chemical recycling technology company. This equity investment bolsters Alterra Energy’s expansion. 

Figure 1. Alterra’s industrial-scale waste plastics liquefaction unit in Akron (Photo: Alterra, taken from the press release) 

Alterra’s technology enables a broad range of plastic waste streams from diverse post-consumer sources to be liquefied into a material similar to crude oil. Such material can be flexibly processed and upgraded by companies like Neste into high-quality feedstock for polymers and chemicals production. Alterra’s existing industrial-scale waste plastics liquefaction plant in Akron (Ohio, USA) produces commercial volumes of that renewable oil. 

The companies are working together towards a global rollout with a strong initial focus on Europe. The collaboration between the companies will include joint technology development and global technology licensing, and will support Alterra Energy’s target of commencing the construction of a state-of-the-art liquefaction site in Europe during 2021.

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