New Hope Energy has announced plans to build a chemical recycling facility in Texas, in conjunction with a partial offtake agreement with TotalEnergies, said the company.
Similar to New Hope Energy’s original facility in Tyler, Texas, this new facility will utilise Lummus Technologies pyrolysis process technology and will be able to process 310,000 tonnes/year of mixed plastic waste. New Hope Energy will target mixed plastic waste feedstock from material recovery facility (MRF) mixed plastic bales, among other sources. The plant is expected to be online in 2025.
TotalEnergies will receive 100,000 tonnes of pyrolysis oil, with the intention of manufacturing sustainable polymers for food-grade applications. This comes as Missouri is in the final stages of signing into law House Bill 2485, a piece of legislation which supports chemical recycling operations, which they deem “advanced recycling”. Should the bill become law, Missouri would be the 19th state to adopt such legislation, following Mississippi, Kentucky, West Virginia and South Carolina earlier this year.
The terminology “advanced recycling” is opposed by many organisations as it can be misleading as to the physical process of recycling and the marketing qualities of the technology. Many chemical recycling technologies have existed for years, though only recently have companies commissioned production units. This bill will amend the legal definitions of chemical recycling processes such as pyrolysis, solvolysis, gasification and depolymerization such that they would no longer be categorised under categories like “solid waste processing” or “incineration”.
This would mean the investment, construction and running of chemical recycling facilities covered under these laws could grant them funding, taxation or environmental regulation as a recycling facility rather than as a waste to fuel or disposal facility. Moreover, adopting the legal definition of recycling opens the door for chemically recycled material to be used in future post-consumer recycled content mandates or as marketable recycled material. Despite the legal support chemical recyclers estimate that it will take at least another seven to 10 years to reach true commercial scale, and the bulk of the industry remains at pilot stage.
As per MRC, Grupa Lotos said it is not processing oil for TotalEnergies' Leuna refinery in Germany, referring to a statement by the Polish climate minister that this was the case as a "slip of the tongue". Poland's Climate Minister Anna Moskwa said on Friday the Gdansk refinery owned by Lotos was processing oil for the Leuna refinery.
MRC also reminds, TotalEnergies and ENEOS hasve announced a collaboration to jointly conduct a feasibility study to assess the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in ENEOS' Negishi refinery in Yokohama city, Japan.
mrchub.com