ReNew ELP predicts 2019 will be the 'breakthrough year' for chemical recycling

ReNew ELP plans to start construction on its first plastic recycling plant in Teesside early next year.

The process will convert 20,000 tonnes per annum of plastic waste that would otherwise go to landfill or incineration into recycled petrochemicals and oils for the chemical sector.

The company says that 2019 will be a “breakthrough year” for the technology, but has called on the Government to provide more support to help the sector.

ReNew ELP’s technology uses a patented Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor (Cat-HTR), which has been developed by Licella.

The company says Cat-HTR differs from competing technologies such as gasification or pyrolysis as it uses water under supercritical conditions to break down a wide range of plastics to their original component molecules.

These molecules are then rearranged to produce new chemicals and recycled oils which can replace fossil fuels in the production of new plastic and provide feedstocks for the chemical sector.

“Chemical recycling offers very real opportunities to create a circular economy for plastics. By breaking down waste plastics into their original state the technology provides a sustainable, low carbon feedstock which can be used to produce new plastic without the need for virgin fossil fuels,” said Richard Daley, Managing Director of ReNew ELP.

“However, the sector requires support from the Government to enable the economic and environmental benefits of chemical recycling to be fully realised. We are calling on the UK Government to recognise chemical recycling as a low carbon recycling technology and to develop a clear policy framework that will support the production of recycled carbon feedstocks."