Neste combines bio-waste and chemically-recycled plastic in circular economy-boosting polymers
30 Nov 2020 --- Finnish oil refining giant Neste is developing polymers without the use of fossil fuels to create what it calls the “future of plastics.”
The material, branded “Neste RE,” is formulated with 100 percent renewable and recyclable materials such as used cooking oil and animal fats from industrial waste.
“As Neste RE is produced of bio-based waste and residues and chemically-recycled plastic waste, it contributes to circular economy,” says the company.
The material also contains recycled PET (rPET) produced through chemical recycling processes.
Neste says the material is designed as a “drop-in” replacement for plastics and can be used on its own or in combination with traditional virgin plastic. The company also claims it is identical in quality.
“Upgrading plastic waste into high-quality polymers and new plastic products reduces the need to tap into virgin fossil raw materials,” says the company.
The polymers are designed for a range of industry applications, including food and non-food packaging.
Reusing bio-based industry waste
Bio-based materials incorporated into Neste RE include used cooking oil (UCO). The company last year opened an office in Shanghai to source certified UCO. This year, Neste also acquired Mahoney Environmental, a leading collector and recycler of UCO in the US.
Neste RE is a 100% renewable and recycled raw material for toys, food and non-food packaging, and healthcare applications (Image credit: Neste).
Animal fats from food industry waste are also used. In 2018, Neste acquired 51 percent shares in Demeter, one of the largest animal fat traders in Europe.
Vegetable oil processing wastes and residues, often derived from palm oil production, also serve as raw material, as does technical corn oil (TCO), a residue generated in ethanol production from corn.
Neste says its use of bio-based wastes such as these and its continuing search for other usable waste materials contribute to the developing circular economy.
A “fresh start for plastics”
The recycled element of Neste RE is plastic collected from the vast quantities of PET that is difficult to recycle through mechanical means.
Multi-layered, multi-material and colored plastic packaging is typically unsuited to mechanical recycling. To answer this problem, Neste has made investments in state-of-the-art chemical processing sites, which use thermochemical liquefaction to process otherwise unrecyclable post-consumer plastic.
The company says this technology is essential in meeting international targets for plastic reduction.
“The European target for plastic packaging is to recycle 50 percent by 2025 and 55 percent by 2030. Mechanical recycling is not enough: chemical recycling on an industrial scale must be developed and fully harnessed to support achieving these targets,” according to the company.
Together with Recycling Technologies and Unilever, Neste is combining expertise to test and validate new systems to recycle waste plastics chemically.
Greenpeace scrutinizes chemical recycling
How environmentally sustainable chemical recycling systems are in reality, however, remains disputed. A Greenpeace report recently accused 52 US chemical or advanced recycling projects of being unviable and misleading in their claims.
The report, entitled “Deception by the Numbers,” says that “chemical recycling is not a solution to the plastic pollution crisis, but rather a bait-and-switch PR tactic meant to create the illusion of industry progress.”
Greenpeace claims most chemical recycling projects mainly produce fuels and waxes, unlike Neste’s Neste RE polymers, which can be used for food and non-food packaging.
The NGO also draws attention to the climate impact of these energy-intensive chemical recycling technologies.
Edited
By Louis Gore-Langton
