LyondellBasell starts commercial production of circular polymers
Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.
LyondellBasell has started the commercial production of virgin quality polymers from raw materials derived from plastic waste at its Wesseling site in Germany.
Press release: “LyondellBasell starts commercial production of polymers using raw material derived from plastic waste.”, 06/05/2021.
Related posts:
- “LyondellBasell and Neste announce commercial-scale production of biobased PP and LDPE”, 20/06/2019.
- “Chain of custody and blockchain in the bioeconomy and the circular economy – List of examples”, 19/11/2020.
Figure 1. First delivery of pyrolysis oil for polymer production at the LyondellBasell site in Wesseling (taken from the press release)
LyondellBasell commissioned a pilot plant last year in Ferrara (Italy) to further develop its molecular recycling technology where plastic waste is converted into raw materials for the production of new plastics. Produced by the thermal conversion of plastic waste, pyrolysis oil is converted into ethylene and propylene in the LyondellBasell production facilities, and then processed into polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) in the downstream units for plastics production.
The first use of raw material derived from plastic waste follows the company's successful production of plastic materials made from renewable-based raw materials such as used cooking oil. The products made from recycled and renewable-based raw materials will be marketed by LyondellBasell under the Circulen brand name enabling brand owners to improve the sustainability of consumer products.