LyondellBasell invests in new recycling center in Germany

LyondellBasell (LYB) is investing in a new closed-loop preparation center in Lich, Germany. This advanced recycling center transforms plastic waste into high-quality feedstock for high-performance materials, supporting the circular economy and contributing to industry sustainability goals.

This new recycling center brings together the collective expertise of service providers, universities supporting the processes and analytics used, and LYB’s dedicated team.

The Closed-Loop Preparation Center supports LYB’s integrated hub strategy, combining existing assets with new advanced sorting and recycling capabilities to create operational scale, reduce costs and capture value from plastic waste.

This new center marks a major leap forward in processing capacity for durable goods waste, such as automotive and white goods parts. The recycling requirements for durable goods at end-of-life are complex. Paint, metals and other additives need to be removed from the material to become plastic suitable for high-quality feedstock.

"These efforts are pioneering new ways to recycle durable goods into new materials for high-quality applications," said Frank Nöltgen, Vice President of Advanced Polymer Solutions Europe at LYB. "By investing in sorting, recovery and the development of proprietary recycling technologies, we are taking an important step towards a sustainable future."

The recycling center uses mechanical recycling to transform end-of-life automotive and appliance plastics, such as bumpers and interior trim, into high-quality recycled materials. These recycled materials will be incorporated into the LYB CirculenRecover product range, providing more sustainable solutions based on recycled materials for demanding applications in the automotive and white goods industries, including structural parts, interior components and visible applications.

Erik Licht, Director of New Business Development for Advanced Polymer Solutions Europe at LYB, added: "We are pleased to support automotive and durable white goods manufacturers in achieving their sustainability goals. This closed-loop preparation center ensures that valuable plastic materials remain in circulation, reducing dependence on virgin resources and resulting in products with a lower carbon footprint than virgin products."

The Lich recycling center is expected to reach commercial scale in the fourth quarter of 2024. The investment is in line with the company’s ambitious goal to produce and sell at least 2 million metric tons of recycled and renewable polymers annually by 2030.