BASF turns to tech startup Arcus for plastic waste-derived pyrolysis oil

06 Sep 2022 --- BASF is purchasing pyrolysis oil derived from mixed plastic waste from Arcus Greencycling Technologies, a German technology company. Arcus will supply BASF with pyrolysis oil and expand its capacities in the coming years. BASF will use the oil in its production plants as a raw material for the production of its chemically recycled “Ccycled” products.

Through a framework agreement, the two companies want to contribute their respective know-how to the value chain to return plastic waste that is not recycled mechanically and thereby reduce CO2 emissions. Arcus produces pyrolysis oil from mixed plastic waste with Germany’s “first of its kind” process demonstration unit (PDU). 

“The Arcus technology uses post-consumer mixed plastic waste from the German ‘yellow bag’ and industrial packaging waste. It complements mechanical recycling. Therefore, more plastic waste is being recycled,” an Arcus spokesperson tells PackagingInsights. 

The Arcus PDU, built in Frankfurt, is said to be the first of its kind on a commercial scale in Germany.Working with mixed plastic waste
The spokesperson explains that the challenge of creating a processing unit is waste diversity.

“Working with waste is the challenge, as it is a very heterogeneous input material. The composition of the waste varies from one day to another.” 

“Developing a robust process is key to processing these types of heterogeneous feedstocks,” they add.

Christoph Gahn, vice president Chemical Recycling Business and Technologies at BASF, says the partnership with Arcus underscores BASF’s commitment to conserving resources by using recycled raw materials in the chemical industry and to drive the transition to a circular economy.

“Partnerships with agile and innovative companies are key to achieving these goals. Arcus will be able to supply us with commercial quantities of pyrolysis oil for the production of Ccycled products in the future. In this way, we support our customers in achieving their [environmental] sustainability goals.” 

The process demonstration unit
The Arcus PDU, built in Frankfurt, Germany, is said to be the first of its kind on a commercial scale in the country and produces pyrolysis oil from mixed plastic waste that is not recycled mechanically. 

“After many years of process development in lab- and pilot-scale, the PDU will now provide operational experience on the conversion of mixed plastic waste into pyrolysis oils on a commercial scale and will thus be the basis for the roll-out of the Arcus technology,” explains the spokesperson. The agreement foresees the take-up to increase to 100,000 metric tons of pyrolysis oil per year.

They continue to add that through the PDU, Arcus expects to “gain experience with different plastic wastes and thus further broaden the applicability of the technology.” 

“With the guaranteed purchase of the oil produced, Arcus can build further plants with higher capacity and thus make a significant contribution to closing material cycles together with BASF,” asserts Daniel Odenthal, chief operating officer at Arcus Greencycling Technologies. 

Replacing fossil resources
The agreement foresees the take-up to increase to 100,000 metric tons of pyrolysis oil per year and is another building block in the expansion of BASF’s ChemCycling business, which focuses on the chemical recycling of non-recycled post-consumer plastic waste on an industrial scale. 

BASF says it will feed the pyrolysis oil supplied by Arcus into its production network in Ludwigshafen, Germany, replacing fossil resources.

The proportion of recycled raw material is allocated to products manufactured in the Verbund using a mass balance approach. An independent auditor checks the attribution. The products that bear the name suffix “Ccycled” have the same properties as conventionally manufactured products. 

Customers can therefore process them in the same way and also use them in applications that place high demands on quality and performance, such as automotive parts. Commercial products have been on the market since 2020.

By Natalie Schwertheim