Viridor-INEOS partnership creates high-spec plastics from UK’s largest multi-polymer recycling facility

29 Nov 2019 --- UK multinational chemicals company INEOS will be supplied with recovered polymers from recycling specialist Viridor’s new £65 million (US$84 million) post-consumer recycling plant at the Avonmouth Resource Recovery Centre, near Bristol. Viridor sorts, cleans and recycles the post-consumer plastics while INEOS applies its material science expertise to boost and tailor the properties of new hybrid polymers. The facility is pegged as the UK’s largest multi-polymer recycling and reprocessing factory. It is powered by Viridor’s £252 million (US$325 million) energy recovery plant that puts non-recyclable waste to work to produce electricity and heat.

“Plastic is a valuable resource. So much so that we want to encourage the increasing collection and recycling of plastic materials after their initial use. Our commitment to take material from this project helps to support investment in a new, state-of-the-art recycling facility. Using our polymer expertise, we will engineer a new range of polymers to incorporate high levels of recycled plastics. These new materials will meet growing demand for increased levels of recycled content without compromise to product performance and quality,” says Rob Ingra, CEO of INEOS Olefins & Polymers.

Viridor’s 2019 Recycling Index, which tracks public attitudes to recycling, found that nine in ten (89 percent) of those polled believe that existing plastic should be used to create useful resources that can be used again.

“Our index also demonstrates that future buying choices will be influenced by packaging made from recyclable material (65 percent – up four points from 2018 – are more likely to buy products made from recyclable material) with 76 percent saying there should be mandatory lessons on recycling in schools,” says Phil Piddington, Managing Director at Viridor.

“The message from the public could not be clearer when it comes to recycling and putting recycled content back into the economy. The UK Government, through the Resources & Waste Strategy and 2022 plastic tax, is helping to create a foundation for the investment, which allows our sector to deliver sustainability targets. Avonmouth Resource Recovery Centre demonstrates Viridor’s commitment to these goals,” he adds.

Viridor is using its technologies to sort, clean and recycle the many post-consumer plastics to the “highest standards achievable” with recycled plastics. Meanwhile, INEOS applies its material science expertise to boost and tailor the properties of the new hybrid polymers so that they perform in accordance with consumer demand.

Viridor found that nine in ten surveyed believe that existing plastic should be used to create useful resources that can be used again.“This partnership brings together the expertise and investment that is vital to translating our common sustainability targets into practical reality in the marketplace. This partnership creates the important pathway to the circular economy and tackles the two tough issues of reducing the level of waste generated in cities and the creation of high-value materials that can be used in high value, tailored applications across many markets,” outlines Keith Trower, Viridor Resource Management Managing Director.

“Sustainable quality, which is valued by an increasingly discerning public, is key. The UK public want to understand the environmental providence of their packaging and products and this is something we are in a position to confidently offer the marketplace,” he adds.

Since Q3 2019, INEOS notes that it has been able to offer a range of polyolefins that contain up to 50 percent recycled content without sacrificing on performance.

Meanwhile, the company is spending €2.7 billion (US$3 billion) on building two factories in Antwerp, Belgium, that make plastic pellets from liquid gas, which will be imported from the US. This is expected to increase plastic production by as much as 40 percent over the next ten years, which involves billions of extra turnover.

“The partnership reflects Viridor’s emphasis on working with consumer brands and plastics companies to significantly contribute to the creation of new circular market for plastics,” concludes Piddington.

Is it enough to recycle?
The latest moves by INEOS and Viridor come at the heels of a report issued last October by action group Break Free from Plastic, which questions the overall impact of recycling in curbing ubiquitous plastic waste. 

Following 484 cleanups in over 50 countries across six continents, the report names Coca-Cola, Nestlé and PepsiCo as the world’s “top polluting companies.” The Break Free From Plastic report also blasts the FMCG heavyweights for only offering “false solutions to the plastic pollution crisis they have created.” 

Essentially, recycling will not solve the issue, and making a product recyclable doesn’t mean that it will be recycled, nor will it remove the adverse human health impacts of the chemicals in plastics, warns the group – which is comprised of more than 1,800 organizations.

Meanwhile, bio-based polymers have been gathering speed in the sustainability race. In cooperation with its supplier Braskem, Tetra Pak has become the first company in the food and beverage industry to responsibly source plant-based polymers using the Bonsucro standards for sustainable sugarcane.

In similar developments, biodegradable materials developer Danimer Scientific has collaborated with food packaging manufacturer Genpak to develop a new line of biodegradable food containers, coined GenZero. Featuring its signature plant-based biopolymer Nodax polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), Danimer will supply several million pounds of biodegradable resins, which Genpak will use to manufacture the new line of food packaging products.

British retailers have even made moves towards eliminating packaging altogether. Following an “overwhelmingly positive” response to its bring-your-own packaging trial, dubbed “Unpacked,” Waitrose & Partners extended its packaging-free shopping experience in Oxford, UK, beyond the original end date of 18 August. The British grocer has also committed to introducing elements of the concept at three more establishments by the end of the year.

By Benjamin Ferrer