Braskem head of recycling: ISCC Plus certification opens doors to advanced recycling and renewable feedstocks

15 Apr 2021 --- Braskem has become the first Brazilian company to receive the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus. 

The thermoplastic resins producer creates alternative virgin plastic materials, such as used plastics feedstock, at its industrial units in southern Brazil.

The carbon certification allows Braskem to expand its circular resins and chemical products, and pursue research collaborations to improve advanced recycling technologies, producing materials with similar characteristics as fossil materials. 

“ISSC allows us to guarantee the circular content on the final products using the mass balance concept, where you attribute the volume of circular material to the final products using an audited process,” says Luiz Alberto Falcon, head of Braskem’s Recycling platform.

In this interview with PackagingInsights, Falcon explains how the ISCC certification is a crucial step in closing the loop on plastic waste through advanced recycling.

All under one umbrella
The ISCC Plus accreditation verifies that the mass balance accounting follows predefined and transparent rules. 

The certification guarantees that companies are preserving carbon sinks, promoting biodiversity, ensuring sustainable agricultural practices, and complying with social and environmental standards. 

The certificate provides “robust proof of traceability toward a sustainable source,” according to the Certifications Control Union.

(Image credit: ISCC)Previously, companies have had to use a multitude of certification systems and labels. Those companies now only need one certification under the ISCC.

ISCC Plus will apply to all Braskem industrial units in the petrochemical complex in the ABC region of Greater São Paulo and the Triunfo Petrochemical Complex in Rio Grande do Sul. 

At these units, the company will move forward with additional advanced recycling and renewables feedstock trials in 2021.

ISCC crucial to carbon-neutral goal
The circular raw materials are produced from hard-to-recycle plastics, such as flexible packaging made with different materials.

For plastic and other chemicals, circularity is “a key element” to Braskem’s sustainability commitment. The company’s “macro goal” is to become carbon-neutral by 2050, stipulating strategic checkpoint deliverables along the way.

Braskem will establish partnerships for circular feedstock availability in the short term across all regions it operates.

“We did an extensive research of the best commercially available technologies, and we will soon evolve to feasibility studies and business negotiations,” Falcon details.Braskem’s Triunfo Petrochemical Complex in Rio Grande do Sul.

For example, Braskem launched two new initiatives in the US to expand the use of recycled plastics as inputs and increase polypropylene (PP)’s circularity. 

Braskem America announced its intent to develop a circular feedstock agreement for PP with Encina, a leading provider of solutions to produce renewable chemicals. 

The same arm initiated a feasibility study for an advanced recycling project in the US to examine an efficient and sustainable route for producing circular PP from mixed plastic waste.

Playing the long game
In the mid-term, Braskem’s focus is on helping improve its advanced recycling technology’s feasibility. 

The ISCC score complements Braskem’s new cooperation agreement with Fábrica Carioca de Catalisadores (FCCSA), training institute SENAI CETIQT and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, enabling the next phases of plastic chemical recycling research.

The research team formed by these institutions will invest around R$2.7 million (approximately US$500,00) to develop new catalysts to optimize the pyrolysis process, making advanced recycling more economically feasible at industrial scale.

Falcon affirms brand owners actively “want circular content in their packaging.”“In the long term, our goal is to identify the next generation of advanced recycling technologies with technological and economic advantages to the ones existing today,” Falcon summarizes.

One of the company’s wider commitments is to expand its “I’m green” portfolio to include one million tons of thermoplastic resins and chemical products made from recycled content by 2030.

New but not novel
Advanced plastics recycling is a relatively new technology, says Falcon. “It has several advantages compared to mechanical recycling and could complement it, as it can handle flexible and multilayer materials and does not have the quality issues on the final resin product.”

“Although technologies like pyrolysis are not new, not many companies have achieved using 100 percent plastic feedstock on industrial units to obtain petrochemical grade oil.”

Some of the challenges in this process include specifying good oil, maximizing its yields and reducing contaminants levels. 

The mixed plastic waste must be separated from the total waste source and should be available at an amount capable of maintaining an operational commercial scale unit. 

“Until the availability of feedstock scales up to the petrochemical plant typical volumes, the [ISCC] certification will be necessary,” Falcon flags.

By Anni Schleicher