EEW and Grüner Punkt team up on mixed plastic chemical recycling process

22 Jul 2021 --- German waste management giants EEW Energy from Waste (EEW) and Der Grüne Punkt – Duales System (DSD) are forming a joint venture for developing a chemical recycling process for mixed plastics and other residues from consumer packaging waste. 

The partners aim to recycle large volumes of plastic that are unrecyclable through conventional mechanical recycling infrastructure.

By the end of 2021, the partners want to develop a technically and economically viable system for processing 200,000 tons of plastic waste annually in a plant that will be jointly built and operated. The input materials will be obtained from from DSD and EEW waste streams.

“With this joint venture, we are creating a convincing solution for plastic waste that cannot be recycled today,” comments Michael Wiener, Der Grüne Punkt’s CEO.

“So far, they [conventionally unrecyclable plastic waste] can only be energetically recovered or disposed of in cement works or waste incineration plants.”

“We are thus complementing our well-developed processes for mechanical recycling with a completely new processing process. This will enable us to offer our customers an even wider range in the future.”

“The model developed as part of the joint venture also offers another option to pave the way for climate-friendly recycling for plastic waste that is difficult to recycle.”EEW will separate plastic waste from household waste before converting the remaining household waste to energy to power its plants.

The recycling process
The recycling process is aimed at mixed plastics collected from recycling bins or yellow bags, used in Germany for the disposal of plastic and metal packaging.

EEW plans to separate plastic waste from household waste before converting the remaining household waste to energy to power its plants.

Next, a service provider will chemically recycle the plastic waste processed by EEW and DSD. This will involve a process known as oiling, using pyrolysis technology.

The joint venture’s pyrolysis oil will be marketed as “a basic material” for the production of high-purity and food-grade plastics for packaging production.

Potential customers include manufacturers of branded goods. Manufacturers would access a raw material that is demonstrably derived from post-consumer waste, the partners highlight.

Material and energy recovery
Bernard Kemper, EEW’s CEO, says this cooperation brings companies in the fields of material and energy recovery together for the first time to strengthen chemical recycling and help close the raw material cycle.

“We achieve this by extracting a raw material from the waste stream of mixed plastics and sorting residues as a starting point for new products.”

“To this end, EEW will intensify its recycling efforts before the energetic recovery process and recover waste previously used for energy generation for the raw material cycle.”

“In a nutshell, our joint venture stands for more and better recycling, for which we use our locations and our technical know-how for a sustainable recycling economy.”

According to Rabobank, advanced recycling plants are likely to double to around 140 plants globally by 2025 as regulatory and public demand for recycled plastics packaging drives “huge” investment.

Edited by Joshua Poole