From plastic waste to virgin-grade products
Plastics do have proven benefits during their use phase – for example preservation of food loss in packaging applications, lightweight construction of vehicles, and building insulation. Plastic waste, however, has become a major global challenge. Globally, around 250 million metric tons of plastic waste are generated each year. Only around 20 percent of this plastic is recycled, thus keeping the material in circulation. Therefore, more plastic waste should be recycled overall. Solving this challenge and building a more circular economy for plastics requires innovation and joint efforts across the value chain. BASF will contribute to this by developing innovative technologies and products that promote the recycling of plastics.
A key pillar in this regard is our ChemCycling™ project. In this project on chemical recycling, we are working with partners to further develop the pyrolysis technology which turns plastic waste into a secondary raw material called pyrolysis oil. We feed the oil into BASF’s Verbund production at the beginning of the value chain, thereby saving fossil resources. By using a third-party audited mass balance approach, the share of recycled material is allocated to certain products manufactured in the Verbund. These products are independently certified and have the same properties as those manufactured from fossil feedstock. Customers can therefore further process them in the same way as conventionally manufactured products and use them in demanding applications.
The ChemCycling™ project focuses on plastic waste that is not recycled mechanically for technological, economic or ecological reasons. Examples are plastics with residues, mixed plastic waste fractions, consisting of different plastic types, which will not be sorted further or used tires which are not recycled otherwise. Together, mechanical and chemical recycling can increase the overall recycling rates and contribute to a more circular economy for plastics.
